CELL*WISE

I obviously took some time off from this blog around the holidays, and now a very busy semester has once again begun. I hope to have CELL*WISE going at a steady rate again hopefully by this February. I plan to make some more improvements to certain features of the blog and of course also to be writing more frequent posts.

Last week I attended and presented at the 26th Scientific Conference of the Society of Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine (SPRBM). This was my first time at an SPRBM conference, but I was told that since they always have it in January, it is always somewhere warm. It's too bad that I missed it in recent past years when they went to Cancun and Hawaii! This year it was in beautiful Miami Beach (another first time for me) and the timing and theme of the conference happened to fit well with my current research. The theme this year was "Biomaterials and Extracellular Matrix in Regulating Cell Function". The keynote speakers, officers, council, and committe chairs are some of the leading researchers in areas such as cell and tissue engineering, stem cell biology, and biomaterials.

SPRBM was originally formed in 1980 in response to growing interest in the bioelectrical interactions in growth, repair, and adaptation, with the original scientific focus being electromagnetic processes. Gradually the society starting focusing on a wide range of physical processes (forces and stimuli) and their related effects in biology and medicine. Eventually, it became clear that better understanding of physical regulation could improve clinical practice in a wide variety of areas, such as the research and repair of orthopedic and soft tissues. As for the most recent SPRBM conference that I just attended, the majority of the focus was on tissue engineering (many types and applications), biomaterials, and stem cell biology and mechanobiology, along with the more traditional topics of biomechanics, and cellular and/or tissue regulation by physical stimuli (e.g. mechanical, electrical, magnetic, etc.).

The technical program of this year's 26th Conference of SPRBM is available here. One thing to note, is that the attendance of the SPRBM conference was a lot smaller than other much larger conferences that I have attended or presented at, such as BMES and TERMIS, which cover a broader range of topics. The conference took place in a single large room for three days, and I would say that I presented to about 50 people, which was the number of people usually in the room for most all of the other presentations. The main advantage of the small size, was that people could more easily interact with each other - asking questions, networking, and engaging in extended discussions. Regarding the current emphasis of tissue engineering, it was interesting to see how much this small society has evolved, considering its history. One night at a gala dinner, Dr. Arthur Coury, Vice President of Genzyme Biomaterials, gave an interesting speech titled "Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Scope and Success: The Ongoing Debate". Possibly more information on the contents of this rather inspirational speech in a future post. It was an especially nice change of pace for me, to be at a presentation given by a vice president of one of the largest biotechnology companies in the world which actually develops and markets engineered tissue-like products.

Also, look forward to a follow-up post highlighting many more tissue engineering/stem cell-related conferences that will happen throughout this new year.