1st ever Biomaterials Africa conference to be held at CSIR South Africa

In addition to the Conference a half day Biomaterials Course is planned for the morning of 23 September, following the conference. This event will be separate from the conference and people not attending the conference will still be able to register.  The course will comprise lectures by Prof. Shuguang Zhang - Associate Director, Center for Biomedical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on “Molecular structure of biological materials: structure, function & self-assembly”; Prof Danie Buger (University of Pretoria) will give a basic introduction to Biomaterials; Dr Wim Richter (CSIR) will speak about Bioceramics and Dr. Deon Bezuidenhout (University of Cape Town) on Biomaterials in cardiovascular applications.

Biomaterials have been instrumental in increasing human life expectancy and improving quality of life. The Biomaterials-Africa 2009 conference will showcase the latest technological innovations and research developments in the biomaterials field in Africa as well as present the latest global trends. Sub-themes for the conference include:

• Biomaterials, including bioceramics, biopolymers and bio-metals
• Drug delivery systems
• Nano-enabled biomaterials
• Regenerative tissue engineering
• Stem cells
• Medical devices
• Biomechanics.

“This conference promises to bring together both national and international experts in the biomaterials field,” says Chetty. “Attendees can expect a cutting-edge scientific programme focusing on some of the key biomaterials areas, with an interesting line-up of world-renowned speakers.”

Plenary speakers include Professor Shuguang Zhang (MIT), Professor Tatsuya Shimizu (Tokyo Women’s Medical University) and Professor Ugo Ripamonti (MRC/University of Witwatersrand), who are experts in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and bone tissue engineering respectively.

Confirmed keynote speakers include Professor Michael Pepper, University of Pretoria, South Africa, Dr. John Ramshaw, CSIRO-Australia, Ms. Naseem Theilgaard, Danish Technological Institute, Denmark, Dr. Hala Zreiqat, University of Sydney, Australia, Prof. William Murphy, University of Wisconsin, USA and Prof. Mona Marei, University of Alexandria, Egypt.  In addition there are 18 papers and 30 posters being presented.

For more information, please visit the Biomaterials Africa 2009 conference web page at http://www.biomaterialsafrica.co.za.