ESB Council Elections 2016: Candidates
Three members of the current Council will stand for re-election:
Luca Cristofolini
Luca Cristofolini
Current position: Full Professor of Biomechanics
Current Employing Institution:
Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Italy
Membership: since 2003
Brief Biosketch
I earned my Master in Mechanical Engineering cum laude in 1992, and a PhD in Bioengineering in 1995.
1995-2003: Research Assistant in Experimental Mechanics at the Engineering Faculty of the University of Bologna.
2003-2012: Associate Professor in Biomechanics in 2003
2012-current: Full Professor of Biomechanics, School of engineering and Architecture, University of Bologna.
I am responsible of 4 Erasmus exchange projects for undergraduate and graduate students.
My research field covers experimental stress analysis and in vitro biomechanical simulations. Currently, I direct a group of 8 highly motivated young scientists. My research is centered in orthopedic biomechanics, with a focus on two topics: (1) multiscale mechanical testing of bone structures (basic research); (2) design and validation of implantable devices (applied research).
I published 148 papers in ISI indexed international journals (ISI h-index: 27; 3400+ citations). I am co-inventor in a European Patent. I won the Clinical Biomechanics award in 2002.
I serve in the Editorial Board of Medical engineering & Physics and J.Biomechanics. I serve as a Referee for several Journals in the field of Biomechanics.
I pursue an international dimension of research through continuing research collaboration, international projects, and exchange of students with a number of Research Institutions and Universities all over the world.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
I serve in the Council of the ESB since 2012. I chair the Membership committee: this involves providing information to regular and perspective members. I also tried to improve the relationship with the Corporate Members of the ESB as they represent a valuable asset for our research, a possible employment opportunity for young biomechanicians, and more income for the ESB (which is made available to young Members, e.g. Travel Awards and Mobility awards). In 2012 we had 2 Corporate Members in good standing; now we have 9.
In 2011 I participated in the foundation of the European Chapter of the ESB. Since then, I serve in the executive board of the Chapter. The Italian chapter strengthened the common roots of the biomechanics community. Since 2011 the number of Italian members of the ESB increased by almost 20%.
Future Contribution to ESB:
I decided to run for re-election in the Council as it was a great experience for me to contribute to the management of our society. In the last few years the ESB has been growing in number of members, participation of industrial partners, and in budget. I would like to keep bringing my experience and ideas to make this more complex structure run smoothly in the next years. I think there is still potential for the ESB to grow; this will require reconsidering the way routine tasks and exceptional ones are managed. This way we will stay a happy and growing scientific society.
Hanna Isaksson
Hanna Issaksson
Current position: Associate professor, Senior University Lecturer
Current Employing Institution: Lund University, Sweden
Membership: since 2006
Brief Biosketch:
Dr Hanna Isaksson joined Lund University, Sweden, in 2011. Since 2014, she and her Biomechanics group moved to the newly formed Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her research area is primarily bone biomechanics and mechanobiology, focusing on functional imaging and statistical shape modelling of bone, characterization of bone damage and fracture mechanisms as well as on improvement of bone quality during fracture repair. She also has ongoing research in cartilage and tendon biomechanics and mechanobiology.
Prior to joining Lund University, Dr Isaksson spend three years as a post-doctoral researcher at the Biophysics of Bone and Cartilage research group, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, working on experimental methods to determine bone quality in metabolic bone diseases, primarily osteoporosis. She obtained her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, in a collaborative project between TU/Eindhoven and the AO Research institute in Davos, Switzerland. The project focused on mechanobiological modelling of bone regeneration.
She has/is supervising in total 13 PhD students, and has authored over 75 peer-reviewed scientific papers. She has been serving on the ESB council since 2012 and are currently responsible for the student and educational activities.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics:
I have regularly attended the ESB conferences since 2004, and for the past four years I have served on the council as chair for the Student and Education committee.
The committee arranges student activities at ESB conferences. Most recently in Prague 2015 it was a student evening in town, and a student lunch seminar about life after your PhD degree. Both events were very well attended, and at least according to me a lot of fun! We also handle the new ESB mobility award, and work with social media sites and we write the student’s corner in the ESB newsletter.
Future Contribution to ESB:
I have a large network with research experiences from many different countries around Europe. I also know the student community well. My experiences from my first term as a council member have been very positive and I would really like to continue to work for the ESB community with focus on our young members and how to improve conditions for all young researchers in the European biomechanics community.
MªAngeles Pérez Ansón
Maria-Angeles Pérez Ansón
Current position: Associate Professor
Current Employing Institution:
University of Zaragoza (Spain)
Membership: since 2007
Brief Biosketch
I am currently Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zaragoza, Spain. She obtained her PhD in Computational Mechanics at the University of Zaragoza in 2004 with a thesis entitled “Simulation of cement deterioration and interfaces debonding in cemented hip implants”. It was award with the Best Technical Thesis of that year by the University of Zaragoza. I was a post-doctoral fellow at the Trinity Centre of Bioengineering (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland) in 2004-2005 and at the Ecole de Technologie Superieure of the University of Quebec (Montreal, Canada) in 2007. I am an active member of the I3A (Aragon Institute of Engineering Research). My present research mainly focuses on Computational Modelling in Mechanobiology (mainly mechanics of hard tissues, design of prosthesis and implants), mechanobiology of skeletal tissue regeneration in healthy and pathological conditions (as for example osteoporosis), non-linear finite element analysis and multiscale analysis. I am author of more than 30 publications in peer- reviewed journals, several chapter books and more than 100 Contributions to International and National Conferences. I have been involved in prestigious European Projects such as IAPP- CADBONE, ERC Insilico-cell and the coming EID CURABONE, collaborating with different institutions at an European scale. Since 205, I am leading the Spanish Network in Biomechanics Research and since 2014 I am coordinating the Master of Biomedical Engineering of the University of Zaragoza.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
I have attended to all the congresses except to the one in Patras (due to maternity leave). I participated as reviewer of different awards (ESB student awards, ESB best doctoral thesis, etc.) I was one of the supporters for the creation of the Spanish National Chapter of the European Society of Biomechanics, in fact, I was elected as its first President (2011-2013). In 2012, I presented my nomination for the ESB council and as a result, I was elected and I have served as Publication Committee Chair (2012-2014) and Secretary-General (2014-2016).
Future Contribution to ESB:
If I am re-elected I will continue working to strengthen the Society. ESB is increasingly expanding and, for example, in Spain, the initially small “bio” community, it is now growing step by step. In 2017, Seville will hold the first congress of the ESB which has enlarged the presence of Spanish members. My intention is to forward the Spanish member participation by encouraging and supporting an innovative research in Biomechanics in Spain. We are doing an excellent research in Biomechanics in Spain. Additionally, with my previous experience working within the council, I will promote the continuous updating of one the most important world scientific societies.
Six Society members also applied for election:
Zahra Asgharpour
Zahra Asgharpour
Brief Biosketch:
Zahra achieved her Master’s degree in Computational Mechanics at Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2008. She completed her doctoral studies in Human Biology-Biomechanics within the framework of a European Project in field of injury biomechanics at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Her PhD studies focused on Numerical Analysis of Impacts using Finite Element Human Body Models (HBM). She has conducted collaborative research at University of Strasbourg and Medical Faculty of University of Marseille as part of the European Project. Upon accomplishment of her doctoral studies, she joined Automotive Industry, a joint venture of AUDI AG as a Biomechanics Specialist and has led and executed R&D projects with Universities in England and France (2012-2015). Zahra is currently the global product manager for academia at Materialise N.V. Passionate about Biomedical Engineering, focusing on finding the connections between fundamental science and applied industrial products, she has kept good relations with universities via research collaborations and intends to strengthen the link between industry and academia. She has presented and published more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
I gave my first presentation at WCB in Munich 2006, at this year ESB was integrated with the World Congress Biomechanics. I attended the mentorship program organized by student committee at this time and realized the impact of being part of societies such as ESB on further professional developments.
Since 2006 I have regularly attended the ESB conferences, I gave a second presentation during ESB 2010 at Scotland, Edinburgh; then in 2013 I attended the ESB conference in Patras, Greece and won the travel award which I received during the event from award committee chairman.
I joined the student committee of ESB in 2014 and have been helping with writing the newsletter of ESB as well as organizing the ESB Career Event in Prague. I helped in preparing the marketing material for this event and invited some of my contacts as the invited speakers. This event aimed to mentor graduate level students as well as PhDs who are about to finish their doctoral research to find what opportunities are available and different type of Jobs they can follow upon finishing their education.
Future Contribution to ESB:
Being a part of the ESB society for the past ten years, I have seen how the society has been evolving and I will get a chance to share ideas and my experience both from science and industry within the society. I have gained a broad perspective on what is expected in industrial applications and coming from an academic background, I would like to strengthen the link between industry and academia, also to promote events within the ESB in order to create more chances for the junior scholars for networking and establishing contacts via these events.
Boyko Gueorguiev
Boyko Gueorguiev
Current position: Program Leader Biomedical Development
Current Employing Institution:
AO Research Institute Davos, Davos, Switzerland
Membership: since 2012
Brief Biosketch
Currently, I am head of Biomedical Development at the AO Research Institute Davos, Switzerland, which I joined in 2003, occupying different positions at the Institute during the last 13 years. My MSc and PhD degrees were received at the University St Kliment Ohridski and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia, Bulgaria, respectively. The department I am leading focuses mainly on biomechanics of bone fracture fixation and joint disorders, as well as concept development of diverse biomedical devices and tools for treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. In 2015 I became my honorary professorship at the Technical University of Varna, Bulgaria, where we foster our collaboration in the field of biotechnology, and specifically on development of 3D powder printers for bone regeneration, bone bioreactors with application of asymmetrical loading, as well as working on diverse European joint grant project applications.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
Participation in ceremonies for giving the Stephan Perren’s Reseach Award – Prof Perren, one of the founders of the European Society of Biomechanics, had been director of the AO Research Institute for more than 35 years – and regular attendance of the ESB congresses with my team members, incl. WCB, contributing with a variety of oral and posters presentations. Bid application for organisation of the jubilee 22nd ESB congress 2016 (40th ESB anniversary) dedicated to Prof Stephan Perren’s contribution to biomechanics.
Future Contribution to ESB:
With my experience in leading multicultural international multidisciplinary teams with most of the team members being relatively young, in the range 25 – 35 years, by setting the high motivation of the team members as my primary goal with highest priority, and keeping the team organisation in a very good shape, I could contribute very well to the future ESB council activities.
David Mitton
David Mitton
Current position: Research Director
Current Employing Institution:
IFSTTAR (The French institute of science and technology for transport development and networks)
Membership: since 2009
Brief Biosketch
David Mitton received his PhD degree in biomechanics from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, Lyon, France in 1997. In 1998, he joined the biomechanics laboratory (Arts et Métiers ParisTech-CNRS), Paris, France, where he was full professor in Biomechanics from 2006 to 2008. In 2008 he moved to a research director position in the biomechanics and impact mechanics laboratory (LBMC, Univ Lyon-IFSTTAR), Lyon, France. Since 2016 he is the Director of the LBMC. His research is oriented towards mechanical properties of biological tissues and more specifically non-invasive assessment. He is co-author of more than 80 articles in peer review international journals and of 7 patents. He has supervised 20 PhD (19 completed and 1 on-going). Since September 2014, he is the President of the Société de Biomécanique (French speaking Society of Biomechanics). He is the Chairman of the organizing committee for the ESB 2016 in Lyon (jointly organized by the European Society of Biomechanics and the Société de Biomécanique).
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
In 2013, I coordinated the bid for ESB 2016. The organization of ESB 2016 in Lyon was decided by the ESB council in Patras in 2013. Since I have chaired the organization of this major event for the biomechanics community celebrating the 40th anniversary of the ESB and the SB.
Future Contribution to ESB:
I have been member of the Council of the Société de Biomécanique for 10 years and I have been involved in the organization (scientific committee) of the annual conference since 2005. I am the Chairman of ESB 2016 in Lyon. The event allows me to have a view of different part of the activities of the ESB council. I intend to contribute to the development of ESB and to a wider audience in the French community. I can also bring my experience in the organization of the ESB conference.
Jérôme Noailly
Jerome Noailly
Current position:
Principal Investigator Multiscale and Computational Biomechanics and Mechanobiology
Current Employing Institution:
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Membership: since 2006
Brief Biosketch
Jérôme Noailly began his PhD in 2002 at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). He explored the mechanical communications within the lumbar spine through finite element modelling and addressed model evaluation issues. In 2009, he received the best PhD thesis award in engineering from the UPC. From 2007 to 2011, Jérôme focussed on soft tissue and multiphysics modelling as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow, at the AO Research Institute and Eindhoven University of Technology, and at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). In 2012, he became the principal investigator (PI) of IBEC’s group of Biomechanics and Mechanobiology, being also PI of the FP7 European project My Spine. In 2015, Jérôme was extending his research to computational systems biology, and moved to Universitat Pompeu Fabra, as PI of the Multiscale and Computational Biomechanics and Mechanobiology research team. He is lecturer in biomechanics and musculoskeletal modelling, and has supervised three PhD theses. He has authored two book chapters, more than 90 contributions to congresses, and 24 articles in journals, including high-ranking journals such as MRS Bulletin, Lab on a Chip, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, PLoS Computational Biology, Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, or Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
Founding member of the Spanish National Chapter of the ESB (CAP-ESB) – Member of the panel of Reviewers for the Perren Award, and the ESB Student and Best Poster Awards in 2012 – Member of the CAP-ESB Executive Board from 2011 to 2015, and President of the CAP-ESB from 2013 and 2015 – Chair of the Organizing Committee of the Annual Meeting of the CAP-ESB in 2013 – Perspective Talk at the 2015 ESB Conference – Member of the organizing committee for the 2017 ESB Conference, Sevilla, Spain.
Future Contribution to ESB
I am a former institutional representative, member of Policy Affair Working Group, and current co-Chair of the Student Committee at the Virtual Physiological Human Institute (VPHI). Hence, I could contribute to specific liaisons with the VPHI, or other societies. In the CAP-ESB, I have actually promoted inter-societies collaborations (e.g. specific tracks in congresses). In terms of student-focussed activities, I have promoted and co-organized the Barcelona VPH Summer School (http://bcnvph.org). In the CAP-ESB, I have also explored the possibility to establish periodical scientific publications to improve the impact of PhD theses, for both authors and supervisors.
Mark Stuart Thompson
Mark Stuart Thompson
Current position: Associate Professor
Current Employing Institution:
University of Oxford
Membership: since 2000
Brief Biosketch
Born and brought up in Edinburgh, UK, I was attracted to biomechanics during my engineering degree at the University of Oxford. Pursuing this direction I became an ESB member in 2000 and obtained my PhD in 2001 from the University of London with Liz Tanner. I moved to Sweden to work with Leif Ryd as a Marie Curie Fellow in Lund, and spent three years in Berlin as AO Research Fellow and leader of the mechanobiology group with Georg Duda at the Charité.
I returned to the UK in 2006 to take up a faculty position at the University of Oxford, and founded the Oxford Mechanobiology Group. Part of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, we are located on the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre site and focus on musculoskeletal mechanobiology. I have published some 40 articles in peer-reviewed international journals and my h-index is 17. I have graduated eight PhD students and currently supervise or co-supervise nine. I teach undergraduate and graduate engineering courses in mechanics of materials, solid mechanics and mechanobiology.
I am a keen off-road runner and mountaineer, and when time allows enjoy singing, playing the bassoon and learning languages.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
My own work and work from my group has been presented at ESB since 2000 (2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). I was part of the local organising team for the joint ESB / WCB meeting in Munich in 2008, and I sat behind the ESB information desk at the joint ESB / WCB meeting in Boston in 2014.
Future Contribution to ESB:
Experience and expertise I can contribute:
- Engaged in research in biomechanics in several European countries, active collaborations continue
- Strong network in biomedical engineering in UK
- Efficient and effective project management
- Excellent interpersonal skills
I strongly believe in the power of international cooperation and collaboration and want to see the ESB flourish with active UK involvement. I’d like to see the excellent ESB initiatives for young researchers expanded and to insure that the ESB is recruiting excellent biomechanics researchers from as wide and diverse backgrounds as possible for the future health and success of our field.
Amir Zadpoor
Amir Zadpoor
Current position:
Associate Professor and Chair of Biomaterials and Tissue Biomechanics
Current Employing Institution:
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
Membership: since 2010
Brief Biosketch:
Amir Zadpoor is an Associate Professor and Chair of Biomaterials and Tissue Biomechanics at Department of Biomechanical Engineering, TUDelft. He obtained his PhD (cum laude) from the same university, and is currently interested in biomechanics of skeletal tissues, (3D printed) tissue-mimicking biomaterials, mechanobiology, and tissue regeneration. Amir has received several international and national awards including an ERC grant, a Veni grant, and the Early Career Award of the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials. He has also served on the editorial boards of international journals, on the review panels of funding agencies, and as a member of award committees.
Previous Involvement in the European Society of Biomechanics
I have been involved in various activities within European Society of Biomechanics including membership in the jury for student awards, chairing sessions in ESB conferences, presenting papers in ESB conferences, and delivering perspective lectures. Together with other European scientists, I also co-organized a mini-symposium within the World Congress of Biomechanics (Boston, 2014) which was a joint meeting of the ESB and other professional societies of our profession.
Future Contribution to ESB:
My research expertise and the communities I am involved in are all at the intersection of biomaterials, tissue biomechanics, and musculoskeletal biomechanics. This combination is quite unique, as most lab focus on one of the above-mentioned areas. I think this combination enables me to liaison between ESB as a biomechanics community and other professional societies and further enrich the scope of the activities performed within the society.
