Dr Xiang opening the conference.
HyMedPoly held its First International Conference “Drug-Free Antibacterial Technology for Medical Applications” on 14th December 2018 in Cambridge, UK. The programme of 10 presentations and a panel discussion reviewed advances and needs in antibacterial technologies from business, clinical and research perspectives and attracted delegates drawn from throughout Europe.
The meeting started with a key note talk from Prof Chris Lowe, University of Cambridge, “Entrepreneurship: The Art of Commercialising Research”.
Presentations then covered a wide range of topics including:
- clinical need and issues faced by drug-free antibacterial technology, and
- the development of antibacterial materials based on synthetic polymers, natural polymers, glasses and ceramics
- the design of biostructures with aid of materials mechanics and the application of additive manufacturing for their fabrication
- collaborative research projects developing novel antimicrobial technology for medical devices
- new anti-biofilm strategies developed from understanding biofilm life cycle dynamics
- an overview of the recently awarded UK National Biofilms Innovation Centre .
At the end of the morning session, 12 HyMedPoly Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) gave a rapid fire presentation of their project and display posters about their project during the lunch break.
Prof Dr Xiang Zhang, HyMedPoly Project Co-ordinator of Lucideon, said “The conference provided an excellent overview of developments in the very new field of drug-free antibacterial technology. It was good to see the lively interaction between the delegates, which I am sure will lead to future collaborations. I look forward to next year’s meeting.”
Professor Chris Lowe presenting the key note talk.