Dr. Salvio Suárez-García as keynote speaker in the N.I.C.E international conference
Our Senior Postdoctoral Researcher participated in the international conference showing the last advances performed by the group in bioinspired materials.
On June 19-21st the International Nature Inspires Creativity Engineers RENDEZ-VOUS conferece was held in Nice (France). The international N.I.C.E. events are organized with the objective to share new developments in the growing field of bioinspiration & biobased approaches (since 2012) and to propose new solutions to societal and research challenges. The N.I.C.E. rendez-vous encompasses chemistry, biology, physics, material sciences and gives a multi-disciplinary overview of biomimetic approaches to engineering new materials and systems.
In 2024, these international rendez-vous are endorsed by CNRS through the GDR 2088, by the Materials Research Society (M.R.S.) & European Matérials Research Society (E.-M.R.S.) and supported by several industrial partners and apprenticeship institution. These events are organized into three main sessions: SmartTech, NanoTech and BioTech. Amongst them: nanomaterials, energy storage and conversion, stimuli-responsive materials, adhesive/anti-adhesive materials, functional polymers, biobased chemistry, soft materials as well as applications in energy, environment and sustainability.
On the 19th, our Senior Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Salvio Suárez-García gave an interesting talk entitled “Mussel-Inspired Approaches to Produce Multifunctional Bioinspired Materials for Their Application in Biomedicine“.
Biomaterial development has become one of the main research focuses in the biomedical field. There is a prominent need for innovative materials that can act as bridge between damaged tissues, while also acting as scaffolds for drug delivery, cell therapy, antimicrobial and other types of precision medicine. The overall objective is promoting efficient tissue regeneration while avoiding negative consequences such as acute rejection, cytotoxicity, infection or chronic inflammation. Synthetic materials are no stranger to these issues, and materials found in nature can be an invaluable source of inspiration towards this goal. Some strong contenders are mussel-inspired materials, based on catechol compounds, due to their strong adhesion in wet environments. Using this approach, our group has established a straightforward methodology to produce coatings, nanoparticles and membranes that present several interesting qualities and show promise in this field. Overall, these novel materials are being validated in different development phases from in vitro to preclinical studies. In all the cases, the developed bioinspired materials have shown great bioadhesion, high biocompatibility, and the ability to transfer cells to the damaged tissue resulting in more efficient regeneration. The versatility of this technology opens up new and exciting possibilities in this field, allowing us to adapt the system based on the needs of each patient.
Funding: This work was supported by grants PID2021-127983OB-C21 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF – “A way of making Europe”. The ICN2 is supported by the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence program, Grant CEX2021-001214-S, funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039.501100011033.
