Nicholas Dunne, professor of biomaterials engineering and executive director of Biodesign Europe at the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering,  as well as deputy dean for the Faculty of Engineering and Computing was recently elected to a four-year term at the society's annual conference in Davos.

He is an editor of Biomaterials Advances, as well as a member of the Editorial Board of the Royal Society of Chemistry – Biomaterials Science, the society's official journal.

Regenerative medicine approaches

Prof Dunne is the 14th president of the ESB and the first from Ireland. The ESB was founded in 1976 and is a non-profit scientific society whose main objective is to encourage progress in the field of biomaterials applied to the development of new clinical treatments based on medical devices and regenerative medicine approaches. Today, the ESB has approximately 1,300 members from more than 30 countries worldwide.

The president's duties include chairing the society's council in their commitment to disseminate biomaterials science, to promote translational research and to foster young scientists through the activities of the Young Scientist Forum (YSF).

Additionally, as president, Prof Dunne will seat on the board of directors of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering, which is the global body that brings together national and multi-national societies dedicated to the advancement of biomaterials, surgical implants, prosthetics, artificial organs, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

The society also confers European Doctorate Awards (EDA) to students who have completed their PhD in the field of biomaterials and tissue engineering and who have been able to perform their work in an international context. The ESB also grants travel awards to students from developing countries so they can attend the society annual conference.

Prof Dunne, who has for many years played a pivot role in the YSF on a global scale, said: "I am deeply honoured and privileged to have been elected as the president of ESB. In this esteemed role, I am committed to leveraging this platform to advance innovation, elevate educational initiatives, and enhance communication within the field of biomaterials. 

"The internationally renowned research from our community significantly benefits patient health and enhances European industry competitiveness. Our duty is to promote and make this valuable research accessible to stakeholders and opinion leaders.

"The growing popularity of EDA and YSF should inspire us to cultivate a new generation of professionals with interdisciplinary skills for contributions to higher education, research institutions, industry, and entities dedicated to biomaterials science, biomedical devices, and regenerative medicine.”

I-Form centre director Professor Denis Dowling said: "We are delighted to see this recognition of excellence and leadership for Professor Dunne. He is a key member of the I-Form Centre team, within which he carries out research at the cutting-edge of process development and optimisation in the fabrication of medical devices."

Customised patient device solutions

I-Form’s research focus is the digitalisation of materials processing, within which selected manufacturing processes are optimised for performance, efficiency and sustainability. This is of particular importance for the growth of biomedical devices, where the promise of digitalisation and customised patient device solutions requires significant research breakthroughs.

Vice president for research, Professor John Doyle said: “I am delighted and proud that DCU colleague Professor Nicholas Dunne has been recognised by his peers in this manner. Prof Dunne's research is at the leading edge of biomaterial research with medical applications, in orthopaedics. In being elected as president of the European Society for Biomaterials, that excellence in research is acknowledged on a European stage"

Prof Dunne is the founding executive director of the recently established Biodesign Europe, a joint appointment between DCU and Arizona State University.

Under Prof Dunne’s leadership, the Biodesign Europe faculty, of +80 principal investigators, is currently delivering a world-class transatlantic research programme that is focussed on developing and exploiting nature-inspired solutions to address global health, sustainability and security challenges.

This programme has generated +€35m research income and established strategic collaboration with +22 universities and +15 industry partners. As a funded investigator in the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (I-Form) and Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER), Prof Dunne conducts his own research programme at the interface of materials science, engineering, and biology.

He leads a highly collaborative and multidisciplinary group that has made significant contributions in the development of biomaterials and medical devices for the regeneration of diseased or traumatised tissues.