Jos Malda | Associate Professor at the University of Utrecht

‘I am proud that researchers from Utrecht are now playing a leading role’

  Jos Malda, as Associate Professor at the University of Utrecht and the University Medical Center Utrecht, and Lorenzo Moroni, Associate Professor at the University of Maastricht, are organising the annual Biofabrication Congress of the International Society for Biofabrication in November 2015 . The conference will take place in the Academy Building on the Domplein, in the historical heart of Utrecht. The three-day conference expects to host 200 to 250 scientists from Europe and America, but also from such countries as Australia, China and Japan. “3D printing is hot, but I also have high expectations concerning its applications in medical science. The theme of the conference is therefore ‘Biofabrication’ and includes the 3D printing of living cells. The possibility to create pieces of living tissue is getting closer and closer. Such printed pieces of tissue would be useful for research, drug testing and, in the longer term, for transplantation, as well. There is still much to discover. I am proud that researchers from Utrecht are now playing a leading role in this field. Recently, we have received a number of large subsidies that have made the creation of a specific Bioprint facility and the new master degree course for ‘Biofabrication’ possible in Utrecht. The conference which, both financially and organisationally, is supported by the province, the city of Utrecht and Tourism Utrecht, is the perfect addition to this.”