We are pleased to present the New Year 2024 newsletter from the European Society of Biomechanics.
Again, please enjoy our updated website and do not miss the latest news!
In this January 2024 newsletter, you will discover:
- From the President;
- Meeting News:
- Call for Abstract ESB 2024;
- ESB Awards;
- Call for ESB Award reviewers;
- Call for ESB Award-related publications;
- ESB Education and Student Committee
- Outline of the Journal Club;
- Interview of Frank Baaijens (Huiskes Medal for Biomechanics in 2023);
- Women in Biomechanics Wikibomb;
- News from ESB National Chapters.
Bernardo Innocenti, Chair of the Publication Committee
From the President!
Dear ESB members,
The ESB 2024 conference will be held in Edinburgh and the preparations are well underway. After the Perspectives talks (see the selected presentations: https://esbiomech2024.org/perspective-talks/), you will find below the next deadlines (for the abstracts and the awards).
Your contributions are essential to the success of this attractive conference in a magnificent location.
Please do not hesitate to submit your work and come to Edinburgh to discuss it with your European colleagues.
I look forward to meeting you in Edinburgh and I wish you a Happy New Year 2024!
David Mitton, ESB President
Meeting News![News icon](https://esbiomech.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/icon22-news-sm.png)
The 29th ESB Congress will take place between 30 June – 3 July 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland!
We are delighted to invite you for the 29th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland from 30th June to 3rd July 2024.
The main theme of the congress – Biomechanics from research to practice – brings the focus on the importance of the dialogue and collaboration between biomechanics and the clinical communities.
SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS FOR ESB CONGRESS: DO NOT MISS THE DEADLINE!
Don’t miss the deadline for abstract submissions to present at the annual congress of the ESBiomech: 31st Jan 2024.
Practical information:
- The abstract template use is mandatory;
- The abstracts must not exceed one page (a word count of approximately 500 words), abstracts should be uploaded as PDF document through the conference website;
- If the abstract submitted for a podium presentation is not deemed suitable, it will automatically be considered for a poster presentation;
- Maximum 2 submissions per main author are allowed.
The abstracts then can be submitted through Conftool
Congress website:ESB Website
We look forward to meeting again with old friends and colleagues in the beautiful city of Edinburgh!
Endorsed events.
Bioprinting Winter School 2024 – From printing set-up to laboratory analysis. Pavia (Italy), 12-16/20/24. Deadline registration – 1/1/2024, reduced fee for ESB members. More info at http://bioprintingwinterschool.unipv.it
Peter Varga, Chair of the Meetings WebPortal Committee
Michele Conti, Chair of the Meetings and External Affairs Committee
ESB Awards
Calls for awards
The 2024 calls for the ESB Awards are open for submission! By order of deadline:
- Award applications to be submitted along with an abstract for the 2024 ESB Congress through the congress webportal, Deadline: January 31st, 2024:
- ESB Clinical Biomechanics Award: fostering the application of Biomechanics and/or mechanobiology to clinically oriented problems – Biennial, don’t miss it!
- ESB Early Career Research Award: recognizes the development of an outstanding young researcher in the process of career consolidation in Biomechanics and/or mechanobiology, with plenary lecture at the ESB congress
- ESB Student Award: honors excellence in biomechanics and/or mechanobiology already at a relatively young age, with plenary lecture at the ESB congress
- ESB Travel Awards: financially help young researchers to participate at the ESB Congress
- ESB Poster Award: raising the quality of poster presentations at the meeting – You are an ESB member in good standing, and your abstract has been accepted for a poster presentation? You shall be automatically nominated. No need to actively apply; just stay tuned!
- Best Doctoral Thesis in Biomechanics, Deadline February 29th, 2024: recognizes the development of an outstanding doctoral final thesis that has contributed to the advancement of the theory and/or applications of Biomechanics and/or mechanobiology, with plenary lecture at the ESB congress
- Biennial Stephan M. Perren Research Award, Deadline March 1st, 2024: One of the most prestigious awards of the ESB, Sponsored by the AO Foundation, in Prof. Stephan M. Perren’s honor, with plenary lecture at the ESB congress, and Award Paper in scientific journal.
Requires journal article submission by the time of the deadline: given to the authors of the best scientific paper specifically submitted for the Award, based on original and previously unpublished research.
For detailed information (documents, eligibility, evaluation, commitment), about each of these awards, please see the Award Regulations (https://esbiomech.org/esb-awards/award-regulations/) on the ESB webpage.
Call for ESB Award Reviewers:
Have you ever received an ESB Award? Has any of your co-authors, mentees, or mentors received an ESB Award? This was possible thanks to the tireless work and commitment of all the people involved in the independent award reviews.
39 Independent reviewers made possible the 2023 ESB Awards!!!
Join the effort in 2024!
Should you want to contribute, please contact the Chair of the ESB Award Committee (https://esbiomech.org/esb-awards/), by February 16th, 2024
Call for ESB Award-related publications
If you:
- have been the recipient or the runner-up of an ESB Early Career, Student or Mobility Award, in 2023 or previously, and
- you have published the awarded work including proper acknowledgement of the award, in a peer-reviewed international journal
Please, send us the full reference of the published work: it will appear in the ESB Related Publications section of the ESB webpage and shall be advertised through the ESB social media.
Jérôme Noailly, Vice President of the ESB and Chair of the Awards Committee
ESB Education and Student Committee
ESB mobility award call is open!
Want to strengthen your international network? Are you thinking of a visit abroad?
Check out the ESB mobility awards: https://esbiomech.org/student-section/esb-mobility-award/
Deadline 3 May 2024!
The following aspects have changed:
–Now open to postdocs
–the host does not need to be an ESB member
Looking forward to many applications, below is a story of a past ESB mobility award winner.
ESB mobility award story: Morteza’s Marvelous Journey in Spine Orthopedic Surgery!
Have you ever wondered if the secret to preventing spine post-surgery complications lies in the whimsical world of Hardware Density Reduction (HDR)? Well, Morteza Rasouligandomani, a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering with a passion for unraveling the mysteries of the human spine, certainly has! Armed with a Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering and funded by an ESB Mobility Award, Morteza embarked on a mission from the vibrant streets of Barcelona to the chic vibes of Milan. Why? To delve deep into the effects of bone properties on screw pull-out! Our intrepid adventurer planted himself in the heart of Milan, splitting his time between Polytechnic University of Milan “Giulio Natta” and the IRCCS Orthopedic Institute of Galeazzi from October 1, 2021, to January 31, 2022. He was there to explore the wondrous realm of Hardware Density Reduction and its potential in preventing Proximal Junctional Failure (PJF) after spine surgery. Teaming up with Dr. Luigi La Barbera, Dr. Tomaso Villa, and Dr. Fabio Galbusera, Morteza embarked on a journey of bone sensitivity analysis. Together, they delved into bone density and its impact on the force required to pull out screws. Morteza tested various HDR scenarios, including different bone properties: normal, osteopenia, and osteoporotic. The efficacy of HDR as a PJF superhero depended on the bone material properties, with undesirable scenarios observed in osteopenia and osteoporotic bones. As Morteza worked through the data, he discovered that reducing bone density from normal to osteoporotic levels increased the screw pull-out force by a whopping maximum of +85%! Moreover, the screw pull-out forces were shown to be safe (below the thresholds) in the case that the bone was not osteoporotic, and the rod material was Titanium. Morteza’s research has made significant contributions to the field of Adult Spine Surgery (ASS), particularly in understanding the role of HDR in preventing PJF and the influence of bone material properties on its effectiveness. These results were presented at the 27th ESB Congress, 2022, in Porto, Portugal. For more information, contact Morteza (morteza.rasouli@upf.edu).
Social networks
Don’t forget to check our social networks where we post the latest news and job offers:
-LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4257919)
-Twitter (https://twitter.com/ESBiomech andhttps://twitter.com/ESBCommunity)
-Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/esbiomech/)
Do you know of a repository, software or conference interesting for the ESB community? Let us know!
Contact us (https://esbiomech.org/student-section/) if you have any job to be advertised.
Aurélie Carlier, Chair of ESB Education and Student Committee
Outline of Journal Club![Science icon](https://esbiomech.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/icon22-sience.png)
Call for expressions of interest to contribute as presenter to the online ESB journal club – April 2024
We will organize an online journal club in which ESB student members can present their accepted work. This event is tentatively scheduled in April 2024 (dates to be confirmed).
Was your paper accepted in 2023-2024 in a peer reviewed journal? Would you like to present it online and answer questions from the audience in a ‘meet the author’ session? Participate!
Before March 1st 2024, express your interest by email to
- stating the full reference to the paper
- attaching the accepted manuscript
- presenting proof of acceptance by the journal
- presenting agreement signed by the senior author for participation in the online journal club.
A selection committee will critically revise the contributions and select the top 5 papers for presentation. Selected authors will be notified on March 15st, 2024
Selected authors will be invited to contribute a video (mp4) presenting a short pitch of the paper (3-5 min) that will be shared on the ESB Youtube channel.
Authors will be given the opportunity to present their work during the online journal club and discuss it with the online audience (dates to be confirmed).
The ‘Meet the author sessions’ will be recorded and made available online through the ESB Youtube channel.’
Please send an email to science@esbiomech.org
Ilse Jonkers, Chair of the Scientific Communications Committee
Interview of Frank Baaijens (Huiskes Medal, 2023)
Frank Baaijens was awarded the Huiskes Medal for Biomechanics at last ESB congress in Maastricht. At this occasion, he was interviewed about his career, life as a PI, perspective on the future of biomechanics and advice for future researchers.
You can watch the whole interview athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRxr36Z6Jf4&t=1715s
You can easily navigate through the video to see the topics that interest you the most (direct links are specified in the video description).
More information about the Huiskes Medal for Biomechanics can be found here:https://esbiomech.org/esb-awards/the-huiskes-medal-for-biomechanics/
Women in Biomechanics – Wikibomb
Wikipedia is Earth’s most widely read knowledge repository, with approximately two billion unique device visits per month. Despite this, less than 20% of Wikipedia biographies are about women. A search of ‘Women in Biomechanics’ on Wikipedia in 2023 by Emeritus Professor Julie Steele returned no results. We want to change this.
With the help of our biomechanics community, across 2024, we will undertake a Wikibomb to create and update Wikipedia biographies of notable women in biomechanics. For more information about what makes someone notable click here.
The Women in Biomechanics Wikibomb is an initiative of the International Society of Biomechanics and will ensure that women biomechanists are visible to younger female scientists on Wikipedia so they can imagine education and careers in biomechanics – just like us!
To conduct the Women in Biomechanics Wikibomb we are calling on the biomechanics community to volunteer their time in one of two capacities. Please join us by:
1. Volunteering to write or update a profile of a notable woman in biomechanics and/or
2. Joining the editorial team who will systematically review and upload the profiles
Please note that a template and clear instructions on how to write and edit profiles will be provided in early March 2024 for all volunteers. We plan to complete the profiles across 2024 and celebrate our success (aiming to edit and create 100 profiles of notable women in biomechanics) at ISB 2025. However, our efforts won’t stop there; in undertaking this activity, we will establish a systematic process for creating and editing Wikipedia pages so that, as a community, we can continue to build and expand this resource.
Please join us by registering your interest to participate in the Women in Biomechanics Wikibomb by the 31st January 2024 by emailing f.watson@imperial.ac.uk.
Thank you,
Associate Professor Celeste Coltman celeste.coltman@canberra.edu.au
Dr Fraje Watson f.watson@imperial.ac.uk
Celeste & Fraje
(Women in Biomechanics Wikibomb Coordinators)
News from ESB National Chapters
Spanish National Chapter
The XII edition of the Annual Meeting of the Spanish National Chapter of the European Society of Biomechanics took place in Malaga, Spain, on November 2-3, 2023. The conference was organized by the Spanish Chapter of the European Society of Biomechanics and the BIOCLINA group (Laboratory of Clinical Biomechanics of Andalusia, Spain) at the University of Malaga.
Several parallel sessions were scheduled during the two days, dedicated to presenting the research strengths of Spanish research groups in areas such as computational biomechanics, tissue engineering, motion analysis, mechanobiology, and more. The conference brought together approximately 70 researchers, who presented 48 research papers. All abstracts are accessible in open access at https://monografias.uma.es/index.php/mumaed/catalog/book/93.
The scientific committee of the conference reviewed the submitted works and, based on their opinion a prize to the best research paper was awarded to R. Ruíz-Lozano (University of Sevilla) and three honorable mentions to S. Gómez-Garraza (Carlos III University of Madrid), A. Favata (Polytechnic University of Catalonia) and A. Aparici (University of Zaragoza).
In addition to the parallel sessions, two plenary sessions were delivered. Dr. Nuria Montserrat, Coordinator of the Spanish Biobanks and Biomodels platform and Group Leader at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia, Spain, and Prof. Sara Checa, Principal Investigator of the Computational Mechanobiology group at the Julius Wolff Institute in Berlin, Germany.
As is customary, the general assembly of the Spanish chapter of the ESB took place during the congress. On this occasion, elections were conducted to select the new Executive Board (Exbo) of the chapter for the next years.
This is the composition of the new ExBo:
- María José Gómez Benito (University of Zaragoza): President
- Ana Vercher-Martínez (Universitat Politécnica de Valencia)
- Carlos Ruiz Wills (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)
Michele Conti, Chair of the Meetings and External Affairs Committee