September – November, 2023
On November 8, 2023, a conference titled “Innovation Fund – Sectoral Research Program (IF-NPP): Smart Materials, Photonics, and Biomedicine” was held at the University of Latvia’s House of Nature, gathering a wide circle of experts and industry representatives.
The focus of the conference was both the presentation of scientists’ results on the projects MOTE and BioMedPharm under the state research program IF-NPP established by the Ministry of Economics in 2022, and the discussion on the importance of state orders in the development of research-intensive innovations and research.
Within the framework of the conference, scientific developments were presented by three BioMedPharm WP6 scientists:
1. I.Bāgante “Izolētu orbītas pamatnes lūzumu 3D printēšana un ķirurģiskā plānošana”;
2. J.Lugiņina “Pentaciklisko triterpenoīdu fosfonātu atvasinājumu sintēze”;
3. K.Ķļaviņš “Biomateriālu ietekme uz šūnām”.
The 64th International Materials Science and Applied Chemistry Conference (MSAC 2023) was held on October 6th2023, with the opening ceremony and guest lectures organised by the Faculty of Materials Science and Applied Chemistry, RTU, Riga, Latvia.
MSAC 2023 focused on functional ceramics; polymers and composites; biomaterials; chemistry and technology of medical substances; biotechnologies; renewable fuel technologies; materials and technologies for opto- and microelectronics; chemistry and technology of building materials; textile and clothing technology. There were 18 oral and 21 poster presentations presented at the conference.
The conference was divided into two sessions, i.e. the RISEus2 closing session and the ”Materials and Technologies for Cybersecurity” session, with 8 speakers from different countries, including Latvia, France, Germany, Switzerland and Portugal.
BioMedPharm WP6 project researcher Bc.sc.ing. Estere Oselska participated in MSAC 2023 with an oral presentation titled “Calcium phosphate bone cements for doxorubicin delivery”.
On September 29, 2023, a Researchers’ Night event took place at the RTU Faculty of Materials Science and Applied Chemistry, where scientists from the BioMedPharm WP6 offered more than 800 visitors the opportunity to try exciting experiments, prepare biomaterials and provided information about the work of Latvian scientists both at RTU and internationally, promoting the interest of young people and the general public in the wide opportunities offered by chemistry, chemical technology and materials science.
From September 3rd to 8th, 2023, the 33rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB 2023) took place in Davos, Switzerland, with the aim to promote interactions and collaborations between researchers, professors, clinicians and industry representatives interested in the field of biomaterials.
The conference was attended by 1200 registered participants from 55 countries, with 237 oral and 759 poster presentations. Plenary sessions (five in total) were held each day of the conference. The conference was divided into 63 scientific sessions.
The “Scaffolds for bone regeneration” session was organized and chaired by BioMedPharm WP6 leader Prof., Dr.sc.ing. Dagnija Loca.
During ESB2023 Bc.sc.ing. Estere Oselska presented a poster titled “Importance of the solid and liquid phase composition in calcium phosphate bone cement for the development of local drug delivery systems” (Poster B Session).
June – August, 2023
On 13.06.2023, Eleonora Rieksta defended her Master’s thesis “Effects of the solid-to-liquid phase ratio on the properties of α-tricalcium-phosphate bone cements”. Within the Thesis, the influence of the solid/liquid phase ratio on such properties of calcium phosphate bone cements as setting time, mechanical strength, injectability, crystalline structure, molecular structure and morphology were determined. Prepared cements were also modified with natural polymer ε-poly-L-lysine and antimicrobial properties of obtained composites against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, and yeast was tested.
On 03.06.2023, Prof. Dagnija Loca (WP6 leader of the BioMedPharm project) and Prof. Janis Klovins (WP8 leader of the BioMedPharm project) met in the radio SWH program “Mind will save the world”, where together with Ieva Silina discussed the possibilities of FUTURE MEDICINE (precision and biomaterials).
Read more HERE.
March – May, 2023
On 05.04.2023 BioMedPharm project team members E. Rieksta and E.Oselska participated in Shadow Days, during which a 9th-grade student from Edgars Kaulins Lielvarde Secondary School and Jelgava State gymnasium had the opportunity to accompany both young scientists throughout the day and engage in experiments related to BioMedPharm subject. School children were introduced to the field of biomaterials and its research prospects. Throughout the day, the student had the chance to prepare three types of biomaterials: 1) calcium phosphate bone cements; 2) hydrogels based on hyaluronic acid and ε-polylysine; and 3) alginate microcapsules. The synthesis of alginate beads generated the most interest, as they could be taken home as a souvenir. During the day not only discussions on biomaterials were held but also knowledge that is beneficial for future scientific endeavours while studying in school was explored.
On 25.05.2023 BioMedPharm consortium met at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis to discuss the progress of the project with the representatives from the Ministry of Economics and the Latvian Council of Science.
December, 2022 – February, 2023
On 10.01.2023 BioMedPharm project partners met in the project kick-off meeting at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis where each work package leader presented the aims of their WPs as well as the prospected results. D.Loca being the leader of WP6 “Development of local drug delivery systems based on personalized 3D biomaterial implants” presented the team and the overall aim of WP6.
