Conference Description
The Conference will be devoted to research and technologies utilizing silk-based materials and will bring together experts in the field of silk science from academia and industry from around the world. The focus will be on current advances in the understanding and utilization of this unique family of proteins, from silkworms and spiders, from both fundamental and applied perspectives. The focus will encompass protein biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, zoology, materials science and engineering, biomaterials applications, cell and tissue interactions and medical device utility, along with modeling and related approaches to silk protein designs. The intent of the Conference is to generate multidisciplinary discussions around the key challenges and opportunities in the field and to foster collaboration with the aim to give everyone an equal platform to showcase their science and technologies.
With a keen eye on the commercialization of silk-based products, the conference will cover the entire value chain of silk products, especially for use in biomaterials and tissue engineering/regenerative medicine contexts. Specific sessions will be devoted to current FDA regulatory requirements, to the analysis of the performance of different silk fibers and material formats, including recombinant silks, to design new materials, new systems and new devices based on silks. The state of advances in exploiting the fundamental insight into silk polymer chain design, self-assembly and functional outcomes will be considered in light of the advancing device applications.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by April 15, 2021. Please check back for updates.
Nanostructures, Molecular Assembly and Mechanical Properties of Silk Macromolecules
Discussion Leaders
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Tessa Luhmann (University of Wurzburg, Germany)
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Fritz Vollrath (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
Speakers
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Cedric Dicko (Lund University, Sweden)
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Gregory Holland (San Diego State University, USA)
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Shengjie Ling (ShanghaiTech University, China)
Artificial and Recombinant Silks Manufacturing and Applications
Discussion Leaders
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Auxiliadora Prieto (Spanish National Research Council, Spain)
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Thomas Scheibel (Bayreuth University, Germany)
Speakers
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David Breslauer (Bolt Threads, USA)
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Anna Rising (Karolinska Institute, Sweden)
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Xiaoxia Xia (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)
Biochemistry, Biocompatibility and Chemistry with Silk
Discussion Leaders
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Rosalyn Abbott (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
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Adam Behrens (Mori, USA)
Speakers
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Kelly Burke (University of Connecticut, USA)
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Chunmei Li (Tufts University, USA)
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Amanda Murphy (Western Washington University, USA)
Silk Purification and Quality Control
Discussion Leaders
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Lorenz Meinel (University of Wurzburg, Germany)
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Katherine Vorvolakos (FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, USA)
Speakers
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Jeannine Coburn (Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA)
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Jonathan Kluge (Vaxess Inc., USA)
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Rangam Rajkhowa (Deakin University, Australia)
Advanced Processing Strategies for Applications of Silks in the Biomedical Domain
Discussion Leaders
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Evangelia Bellas (Temple University, USA)
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Anthony Weiss (The University of Sydney, Australia)
Speakers
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Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina (University of New South Wales, Australia)
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Vladimir Tsukruk (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)
Tissue Engineering with Silk
Discussion Leaders
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Giuliano Freddi (Silk Biomaterials, Italy)
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Joshua Mauney (Harvard Medical School, USA)
Speakers
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Chiara Ghezzi (University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA)
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Biman Mandal (Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India)
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Whitney Stoppel (University of Florida, USA)
Optical and Electronic Sensors with Silk
Discussion Leaders
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Christopher Bettinger (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
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Rajesh Naik (U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, USA)
Speakers
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Sedat Nizamoglu (Koc University, Turkey)
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Fiorenzo Omenetto (Tufts University, USA)
Regulatory and Commercialization for Silk-Based Materials
Discussion Leaders
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Randy Lewis (Utah State University, USA)
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Monica Serban (University of Montana, USA)
Speakers
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Anh Hoang (Sofregen Inc., USA)
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Chun Park (Hallym University, South Korea)
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Andreas Teuschl (University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, Austria)
Stretching Silk: Redesigning the Structure and Functions of Silk Proteins for New Applications
Discussion Leaders
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Alessandra Balduini (Tufts University, USA)
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Jessica Garb (University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA)
Speakers
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Markus Buehler (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
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Benedetto Marelli (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
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Miguel Oliveira (University of Minho, Portugal)
