Bioengineering in Ireland¹⁶

The Sixteenth Annual Bioengineering in Ireland Conference of the Section of Bioengineering of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (RAMI) took place in the Grand Hotel, Malahide, Co Dublin on 22nd and 23rd January 2010. This multidisciplinary research event brought together over 150 leading biomedical engineers and scientists covering a broad range of clinical engineering issues all with a focus on ‘bioengineering for better health’. Dr. Kevin O’Kelly, Deputy Director for the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering and Secretary of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, chaired this year’s extremely successful event. The aim of the conference is to promote Bioengineering in its many facets by bringing together the clinical, engineering and scientific communities thus providing a platform for new and advanced researchers alike.

As in previous years, the conference commenced on Friday and finished on Saturday night with the gala dinner and awards ceremony. This included the RAMI silver medal to the Haughton lecturer, the RAMI Bronze medal to the best overall paper as well as prizes for best student papers and commented posters .

Professor Rose Anne Kenny delivered the keynote address reinforcing the conference theme of Bioengineering for Better Health. Professor Kenny is the Director and lead PI for the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) and is a world leader in research into cardiovascular and mobility disorders in ageing.

Professor Clive Lee delivered the prestigious Samuel Haughton lecture delivered annually at the Bioengineering in Ireland Conference. The Rev. Dr. Samuel Haughton (1821–1897) was a renowned Irish scientific writer, Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, Fellow of the King and Queen’s College of Physicians in Ireland, Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and of the Swedish Society of Physicians.

In addition to Professor Lee’s Samuel Haughton lecture, the programme for this year’s gathering featured over 100 presentations with papers being delivered on a broad spectrum of research being conducted in the Irish Higher Education sector covering Biomaterials, Musculoskeletal, Cardiovascular, Regenerative Cell and Tissue Engineering and Neural Engineering themes.

The conference was also host to the Engineers Ireland Biomedical Research Medal competition won by Kevin Moerman of the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering. He was awarded a €1,000 honorarium sponsored by Georgia Tech Ireland for his research entitled ‘Non-invasive determination of the mechanical properties of living human soft tissue’. Kevin's techniques allow us to better understand human muscle behaviour in compression. This is important for preventing pressure sores from prolonged use of wheelchairs and/or lying in hospital beds and how to design vehicle safety systems to prevent occupant injuries in the event of a crash. Grainne Cunniffe, Michael Early and Ross Ormsby were the other Finalists shortlisted for the award.

The RAMI Bronze Medal for the best overall paper was awarded to John Gleeson, his research was titled ‘In vivo comparison of novel collagen-based composite scaffolds for bone tissue repair in rabbit radius model’. In addition to these prizes, the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering sponsored prizes for the top three oral presenters and top three commented poster presenters. 1st prize for the best oral presenter was awarded to Rochelle O’Hara with second and third prize to Ciara Murphy and William Denny respectively. Alice Sykes received 1st prize for best Commented poster with Erica Tierney and Amos Matsiko in 2nd and 3rd place. ¬We were also delighted to have support from Boston Scientific, Sigma Aldrich, Tomkins and Zwick Roell.

The conference concluded with Dr. O’Kelly being elected as President of the Section of Bioengineering, succeeding Professor Pierce Grace, Professor of Surgical Science and Consultant Vascular Surgeon at the University of Limerick.

Conference programme is available for download here.

Conference Chair:  Dr Kevin O’Kelly, Trinity College Dublin
Conference administrator:  June O’Reilly, Trinity College Dublin
Conference e-mail:  biniconference@gmail.com