NUI Galway Host First Matrix Biology Ireland Meeting

Nov 18 2014 Posted: 09:13 GMT

NUI Galway will host the First Annual Meeting of Matrix Biology Ireland (MBI) in the University’s new Bioscience Building from the 19- 21 November.

This inaugural meeting represents the formal launch of Matrix Biology Ireland, which has recently been established as a learned society, with the scope of promoting and consolidating knowledge and expertise in the Extracellular Matrix field in Ireland.

The Extracellular Matrix plays a vital role in health and disease. Understanding its biology is an essential component in such diverse fields of applied biomedical research, as Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Developmental Biology, Drug delivery and Medical Device research, Imaging and Microscopy, and Glycobiology. In Ireland, and particularly in NUI Galway, there is a considerable level of expertise in all these domains, and, this makes the study of the Extracellular Matrix a useful complement to several highly rated national and local research groups.

This meeting provides a platform to encourage both national and international interdisciplinary exchange in the field of Matrix Biology with world class speakers coming to Galway, including industry speakers and world authorities in the Matrix and related fields. This meeting will also offer the opportunity to many junior investigators to present their work with a podium presentation in front of a highly qualified audience.

Matrix Biology Ireland has been founded by two NUI Galway-based researchers, Dr Fabio Quondamatteo and Dr Dimitrios Zeugolis, and has additionally been endorsed by a number of further investigators including: NUI Galway’s Professor Peter Dockery, Professor Lokesh Joshi, Professor Tim O’Brien, and Professor Abhay Pandit; and Dr Garry Duffy and Professor Fergal O’Brien, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; and Dr Tom Flanagan, Professor William Gallagher and Professor Colm O’Brien of UCD.

Dr Fabio Quondamatteo, Senior Lecturer of Anatomy at NUI Galway and organiser of the meeting, said: “We hope that this meeting will contribute to stimulate continuous growth of Matrix interest in Ireland and will further consolidate the Irish presence in the Matrix field, and, that this initiative will ultimately prove to be a useful platform to further support and complement the existing excellent research community in the country.”

The international Matrix community has seen with favourable eyes the birth of a Matrix Society in Ireland. There has been a fundamental contribution by the International Society of Matrix Biology, two of the most important national societies for Matrix biology, namely the British and the German, and the leading journal in the field, namely Matrix Biology. Further support was given by the Anatomical Society, various companies both in the areas of laboratory supplies and medical devices, the University branch of the Bank of Ireland, and from NUI Galway.

For further information visit http://matrixbiologyireland.wordpress.com/, or email fabio.quondamatteo@nuigalway.ie or dimitrios.zeugolis@nuigalway.ie.

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