AMBER at Workshop on Advanced Materials for Medical Devices

15 April 2025

AMBER’s Executive Director Dr Lorraine Byrne and International Funding Manager Deirdre Caden attended the High-Level Workshop on Advanced Materials for Medical Devices along with fellow experts, policymakers, and innovators across Europe from 10^th – 11^th April in Braga, Portugal.

Hosted in INL International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory in collaboration with IAM-I The Innovative Advanced Materials Initiative and the European Commission the Workshop was of particular interest to AMBER Centre with a goal of excellence in materials science with research themes and innovations focused in Bioengineering, regenerative medicine, advanced materials for gene delivery, biomimetic and stimuli responsive materials as well as Engineered Living Materials.

Recent AMBER Centre projects have focused advanced materials research for medical device innovations such as:

• Urological implants,
• Smart implants for Colorectal cancer healing,
• Regeneration of a native-like collagen architecture in the body to repair injured soft tissues,
• Development of an implant with potential to encourage nerve cell (neuron) repair, and
• Pioneering intelligent device to sense its environment and adapt to release drugs as required

The input gathered will directly inform the work of the Advanced Materials Technology Council at its upcoming plenary session in June 2025, helping shape recommendations for European and national research and innovation agendas. Inclusion of Materials for Health/Biomedical devices and Bioengineering as a priority sector in the EU Partnership ‘Innovative Advanced Materials for Europe (IAM4EU)’ would be most welcome.

INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory is an Intergovernmental Organization headquartered in Braga, Portugal created under an international legal status to foster cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in Nanotechnology and Nanoscience.