Several members of the BoneFix consortium recently attended the 33rd annual conference of the European Society of Biomaterials (ESB) in Davos, Switzerland. From the 4th till the 8th September, members of the team showcased their work with posters and oral presentations. Biomedical Bonding were also present as a start-up co-sponsor and received much interest at their display table.
Kamal Mustafa (UiB) gave the key-note address in a session focusing on functional biomaterials for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration, which was chaired by Michael Malkoch and Daniel Hutchinson (KTH). Daniel also gave a presentation on the thiol-ene composite that is used in BoneFix’s domain 2 fixation patch; while Nanett Kvist (RegionH) introduced the new sheep animal model that BoneFix will be working with and explained how high animal welfare standards will be upheld throughout the project. Posters covering everything from the cytocompatability of the BoneFix domain 1 hydrogel to the mechanical properties of the PET fibers used in the fixation patch were presented by Francesco Torelli (UiB), Noemi Molina (KTH), Peter Schwarzenberg (ARI), Jorge San Jacinto (KTH) and Guillaume Patt-Lafitte (MINES).
The weather was fantastic throughout the conference; with sunny skies and barely a cloud in sight. This allowed the attendees to enjoy the many activities that Davos had to offer; including a walk around the beautiful Davos lake or enjoying the views from atop the Jakobshorn and Parseen mountains. After the meeting wrapped up, it was straight on to the BoneFix annual meeting, which was also held in Davos at the AO Research Institute. The meeting was fruitful. As professor Michael Malkoch states, “with more than one year left of the project, the consortium has now reached a critical scientific mass to be validated in large animals. All partners have, since the project started, been committed to fueling the consortium with expertise and supporting each other in joint work packages”. The in-depth talks and study that was conducted clearly illustrates a promising future.
