The 2024 edition of the annual meeting of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration took place at the University for Continuing Education “DonauUni” Krems. Hosts Stefan Nehrer and Andrea De Luna as well as coordinators Johannes Grillari and Heinz Redl gave the opening words to the eagerly anticipated event. Prof. Grillari, in his brief but heartfelt speach, gave words we like to keep at heart: “We are grateful that we are able to meet here today, in peace, as a community, sharing our love of science and many a good discussion.”
Sessions included topics like biomaterials, cell therapies, 3D printing, senescence and aging, biophysical therapies and presentations from Cluster spin-off companies founded by its members. A strong presence of EV research was felt throughout the programm, with many Cluster members also being part of the Austrian Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ASEV).
Several research groups applied for membership in the Cluster and presented their research in course of the two-days event:
- Johanneum Research COREMED – Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Precision Medicine (Petra Kotzbeck, Lars Kamolz)
- Johannes Kepler University Linz (multiple groups)
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Nanovesicular Precision Medicine (Nicole Meisner-Kober)
By board decisions, we are happy to invite them into the Cluster!
There are also several new spin-off companies joining us: LabLife (founded by Asmita Banerjee, Adelheit Weidinger), Regenera (founded by Giuseppe Perale) and WaveVision (founded by Paul Slezak and Cyrill Slezak).
As is becoming tradition, exceptional presentations by young researchers were honored with the Best Presentation Award. This year, the awards went to
- Danijela Kojic from Technical University of Wien for “Exploring novel biodegradable biomaterials: Poly(ether)esters and aliphatic polycarbonates derived from spirocyclic compounds”
- Maria Belen Arteaga Paredes from Vetmeduni for “Understanding the dual effects of dexamethasone on chondrocytes: From anti-inflammatory potency to premature senescence induction”
- Karla Valdivieso from LBG Research Group: Senescence & Healing of Wounds for “The relationship between cellular senescence and the process of wound healing”
Three very different research topics, reflecting the broad spectrum of science within the Cluster – performed by talented young researchers!
The Awards were enabled by the Austrian Society for Tissue Regeneration and its sponsors: https://tissueregenerationsociety.at/ Thank you!