On the 5th and 6th of September this year, Queen Mary University of London’s School of Engineering and Materials Science will host the 16th BioMedEng conference, welcoming over 400 Biomedical engineers, researchers, clinical specialists, government and industry representatives.

The BioMedEng annual conference is the UK’s largest gathering of Biomedical Engineers, Medical Engineers and Bioengineers, with expertise in medicine, science and engineering.

A world-leading institution for Biomedical Engineering for over 50 years, Queen Mary is home to the Centre for Bioengineering and the Centre for Predictive In-Vitro Models. The hosting School of Engineering and Materials Science is ranked seventh in the UK for research (REF 2021). The school has recently been awarded a £7 million grant to establish an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Next Generation Organ-on-a-Chip Technologies, which will train future leaders in the rapidly expanding field of organ-on-a-chip technology.

Professor Martin Knight, Chair of the BioMedEng Council and Dean for Research of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Queen Mary University of London, said:

"The annual meeting of the BioMedEng Association represents that largest gathering of biomedical engineers in the UK and provides a platform where the brightest minds in the field to come together to share groundbreaking research and innovations, driving the future of medicine through technology."

“Queen Mary University of London is delighted to host BioMedEng24 recognising that we were one of the first institutions to offer bioengineering and biomaterials undergraduate degrees, and now have one of the largest bioengineering groups in the country, with expertise in biomaterials, mechanobiology, healthcare robotics, AI and organ-chip technology.”

Professor Hazel Screen, a leading figure in organ-on-a-chip technology at Queen Mary University of London, and the Head of School said: "At Queen Mary we believe diversity is key to unlocking innovation, and we strive to ensure new technologies benefit everybody. The creation of the EPSRC CDT at Queen Mary University of London is testament to our impressive organ-on-a-chip research. This technology is truly paving the way for more effective treatments and a deeper understanding of human biology.”

Queen Mary is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and BioMedEng24 will showcase the diversity of talent in the Biomedical industry. The School of Engineering and Materials Science has had their Athena Swan Bronze award renewed for a third time this year. 56% of keynote speakers at this year’s conference are women and the school is further demonstrating this commitment to gender equality in the conference programme, with a special symposium on Women and Child Health.

Conference highlights include Plenary Speaker Professor Dame Molly Stevens from the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. The John Black Professor of Bionanoscience will talk about her work balancing the investigation of fundamental science with the development of technology to address some of the major healthcare challenges, and her portfolio of designer biomaterials for applications in disease diagnostics and regenerative medicine.

The Plenary Debate will discuss Transforming Technology for Future Medicine with academics from universities including Queen Mary, King's College London and the University of Glasgow, and experts from industry.