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2024 BioMedEng Council Elections

A total of eight BioMedEng Council positions expired in December 2023.

The BioMedEng Association is grateful to Drs and Profs [Daniel Abásolo (Surrey), Ed Chadwick (Aberdeen), Constantin Coussios (Oxford), Ashraf Khir (Durham), Andy Nisbet (UCL), Perumal Nithiarasu (Swansea), Seb Ourselin (KCL) and Yiannis Ventikos] for their service and commitment to the Association.

Following the recent round of nominations for Council positions, which was open to previous Council members and current full members of the Association, the nominees below have been approved by the Board for elections. Each nominee has also prepared a short manifesto on why they should be voted to join the Council.

BioMedEng members can use the link in the members area to vote for their preferred candidate. To vote, please click this link and login: https://bit.ly/48aOlV1

Voting closes at midnight on 21st February 2024. Your response will remain anonymous.

Manifestos

Professor Ashraf Khir – Durham University

Ashraf W Khir is a Professor of Cardiovascular mechanics at Durham University, Ashraf carried out his Doctoral work at the Physiological Flow Studies Unit (PFSU) at Imperial College London, which was followed by a Postdoc at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI). Then joined Brunel University London as a lecturer and worked there for 18 years before moving to Durham in 2022.


Ashraf is an Associate Editor in the Journal of Engineering in Medicine and the European Editor of Artificial Organs. Ashraf is a fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), where he has also been a board member of the Biomedical Engineering Division. Ex- governing board member of the European Society of Artificial Organs (ESAO) and hosted the annual conference of ESAO in 2021. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (FIPEM) where he served as a member of the Biomedical Engineering accreditation panel.

Ashraf has a broad interest in the role of Biomedical Engineering in developing Healthcare Technologies, but his main research focus is in the areas of Physiological Fluid Mechanics and the Mechanical Ventricular Assist Devices. As a Council member, he will be pleased to continue to contribute to the general running of the BioMedEng Association, participate in organising the annual conference and support the growth of the Biomedical Engineering discipline in the UK and beyond. Ashraf also wishes to assist the Association’s efforts in developing young/junior academics and engineers working in the field, as well as contributing to the Education group.

Dr Asimina (Melina) Kazakidi – University of Strathclyde

Dr Asimina (Melina) Kazakidi is a Reader at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. She obtained her PhD in Biofluid Dynamics from Imperial College London.

Asimina is the Course Director of the MSc/MRes programmes in Biomedical Engineering and Deputy Director of Research at Strathclyde. She has been the recipient of prestigious fellowships and research funding both as PI and co-I, including a recent EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technologies Phase 2 grant. She is a Member of IPEM, the RSE Young Academy of Scotland, and the European Society of Biomechanics (ESB).

Asimina has contributed to the BioMedEng community since its inaugural conference. Her nomination hopes to broaden representation and experience within the Council, fostering further growth of the community. Her nomination also reflects a commitment to the field’s development and the continued success and impact of future conferences, especially as Strathclyde prepares to host the BioMedEng25 conference.

Professor Yalin Zheng – University of Liverpool

My name is Yalin Zheng and I am Professor of AI in Healthcare at the University of Liverpool. I have built an excellent reputation in cross-disciplinary research in medical engineering with substantial translational potential into healthcare locally, nationally and globally. My collaboration with clinicians has made significant impacts on patient care and my recent AI work has led to a new University spin-out.  

It is an honour to be nominated for election of Council representatives. As your representative on the Council, I would aim to ensure that: advances in the BioMedEng fields will be shared, translation of innovations will be facilitated, and engagements with stakeholders will be widened. To deliver upon these aims, I will use my 20 years of experience from academia and industry and devote my energy, expertise and time. I will also endeavour to give you opportunities to inform me of what I can do to improve your experience and that of the BioMedEng community.  

I would be honoured to represent you in the coming years, and to be given the opportunity to help bring the Association into the AI era and beyond.

Professor Perumal Nithiarasu – Swansea University

After receiving a PhD in CFD, I joined Swansea University in 1996. In 2006, I transitioned to biomedical engineering research through an EPSRC fellowship and established a strong research group in Swansea. I led the first UK network in patient specific modelling to promote translational research. My primary research focus is computational biomedical engineering, with a keen interest in digital twinning in health.

Since 2013, I have held various research leadership roles in Swansea and presently lead the research strategy for Science and Engineering as an Associate Dean. Externally, I coordinate the Welsh Digital Twin Network, chair the CMBE conference series, and edit the International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering. I have been closely associated with the BioMedEng Association since its inception. I have attended nearly all annual meetings and collaborated with many past and present members. I am deeply committed to promoting the BioMedEng Association.

Professor Amy Zavatsky – University of Oxford

Amy Zavatsky has over thirty years of experience in the field of biomedical engineering, starting with an undergraduate degree from one of the oldest and most successful bioengineering departments in the United States at the University of Pennsylvania.

Since then, she has carried out research in orthopaedic and musculoskeletal biomechanics at the University of Oxford, mainly in collaboration with clinicians at Oxford’s Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. She has also taught, supervised, and examined undergraduate and graduate students, with a focus on mechanical and civil engineering and biomechanics. Over the years, she has gained extensive administrative experience on university, departmental, and college committees and working groups. With this background, she is in a excellent position to contribute to the running of the BioMedEng Association through its Council and working groups and to promote the advancement of knowledge and education in biomedical engineering and related fields.

Professor Sotiris Korossis – Loughborough University

Sotiris Korossis holds the Chair of Biomedical Engineering and Biohybrid Organs at Loughborough University. Previously he was an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow and Director of Biomedical Engineering at Hannover Medical School. During his career, he has been committed to actively promoting biomedical engineering, particularly focusing on attracting younger generations, especially of underrepresented groups, into the field.  

As a Council member, he will be actively contributing to the day-to-day business of the BioMedEng Association and support the organisation of the conferences and other activities of the Association, further promoting biomedical engineering to the academic community and general public.  

Scientifically, Prof. Korossis will be actively promoting and fostering collaborations and work in the engineering of whole biological and biohybrid organs, as well as in the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (3Rs) of animal testing by promoting enhanced integration of advanced in vitro and in silico models into tissue engineering and medical device research and development.

Dr Daniel Abasolo – University of Surrey

I am a passionate advocate for biomedical engineering and have been championing the discipline both at the University of Surrey, for example as programme leader for the BEng/MEng Biomedical Engineering programmes from 2012 to 2022, and nationally, as an active member of the IET Healthcare Technologies Network (HTN) Executive Committee, which I chaired from October 2016 to September 2019. I have also been a member of the panel of experts steering the IET Healthcare Sector from 2016 to 2023.

I have always been committed to improving the undergraduate and postgraduate students’ experience. I believe that I can work within the Council of the BioMedEng Association to that aim. Our undergraduate and postgraduate students are the future lifeblood of the discipline and as a Council Member I will actively work to increase membership numbers and to promote activities that would increase the visibility of the Association to students.

 
 

BioMedEng Council Elections – March 2023

The BioMedEng Association introduced a structured tenure system for Council members in 2022, and five of its founding Council members completed their service to the Association on 31st December 2022. 

BioMedEng is grateful to Profs David Williams (Loughborough), Declan Bates (Warwick), Malcolm Granat (Salford), Stephen O’Connor (IPEM) and Terry Gourlay (Strathclyde), for their service and commitment to the Association.

Following the recent round of nominations for new Council positions, the nominees below have been approved by the BioMedEng Trustees Board and Council for elections. Each nominee has also prepared a short manifesto on why they should be voted to join the Council.

BioMedEng members can use the link in the members area to vote for their preferred candidate.

Voting closes at midnight on 30th March 2023. Your response will remain anonymous.

Manifestos

Professor Rylie Green – Imperial College London

Professor Rylie Green, FIET, received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia in 2008. In 2016, she joined the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London and was appointed as Head of Department in August 2022.   

Prof Green is an excellent broad contributor to the BioMedEng community in many different ways. In her research, Prof Green has developed a range of innovative materials to address the limitations that hinder the development of next-generation bioelectronic devices. Her focus has been in developing electrode technologies that are stretchable and mediate improved electrical charge transfer with the body, including pioneering living bioelectronics.

She has also developed wearable diagnostic devices and drug delivery systems for localised chemotherapy based on her conductive material technologies. This research has initiated collaborations with Galvani Bioelectronics, Cochlear Ltd and the US Department of Defense.  

Prof Green holds editorial roles with APL Bioengineering, Frontiers in Medical Technology, IEEE OAJMB, Advanced Bionanomedicine and Biomaterials. She has received a number of awards including an EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Challenge Award (2018), winner of the Royal Society for Chemistry Emerging Technologies: Materials and Enabling Technologies (2018) and a Suffrage Science Award (2017).

Professor Yalin Zheng – University of Liverpool

My name is Yalin Zheng and I am Professor of AI in Healthcare at the University of Liverpool. I have built an excellent reputation in cross-disciplinary research in medical engineering with substantial translational potential into healthcare locally, nationally and globally. My collaboration with clinicians has made significant impacts on patient care and my recent AI work has led to a new University spin-out.  

It is an honour to be nominated for election of Council representatives. As your representative on the Council, I would aim to ensure that: advances in the BioMedEng fields will be shared, translation of innovations will be facilitated, and engagements with stakeholders will be widened. To deliver upon these aims, I will use my 20 years of experience from academia and industry and devote my energy, expertise and time. I will also endeavour to give you opportunities to inform me of what I can do to improve your experience and that of the BioMedEng community.  

I would be honoured to represent you in the coming years, and to be given the opportunity to help bring the Association into the AI era and beyond.

Professor Donal McNally – University of Nottingham

I bring a very broad experience of biomedical engineering, from analytical modelling of soft tissues to regulation and commercial roll-out of medical devices, and a considerable enthusiasm to use that experience to make a difference though research and education. 

I believe that healthcare technologies are going to be one of the main ways forward for an NHS that is crippled by funding and staff shortages.  To do that we need to develop both technologies and people.  The BioMedEng Association can lead these developments.

I am part of the team developing the new National Rehabilitation Centre where we are seeking to fully integrate education and research with clinical care so that every location and activity, from ward to canteen, offers an opportunity to cultivate future technologies, clinicians, and engineers.  The insights that I will gain from this project will be invaluable in helping the BioMedEng community to shape the healthcare of the future.

Dr Jennifer Martay (nee Boyd) – Anglia Ruskin University  

Hello!  I am Course Leader for Medical Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and lead ARU’s Biomedical Engineering Research Group.    In 2021, I helped with BioMedEng’s Education Workshop on “The Impact of Covid-19”.  I want to join the BioMedEng Council and contribute to the Education Group.     

My undergraduate degree is in Biomedical Engineering (North Carolina State University [USA]), with research internships at Duke University (USA) and RWTH Aachen (Germany).  My DPhil is in Orthopaedic Engineering from the University of Oxford.    In 2021, I won ARU’s Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Early Career Excellence in Education and was nominated as THE Innovative Teacher of the Year.  In 2022, I won IMechE/IET’s Engineering Education Grant Scheme.   

I am a Senior Fellow within AdvanceHE, External Examiner at University of Ulster and Glasgow International College, and External Panel Member for Manchester Metropolitan University. I am a Professional Engineer (similar to CEng), licensed to practice engineering in the USA. 

Professor Sotiris Korossis – Loughborough University

Prof. Sotiris Korossis holds the Chair of Biomedical Engineering and Biohybrid Organs at Loughborough University. Previously he was an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow and Director of Biomedical Engineering at Hannover Medical School. During his career, he has been committed to actively promoting biomedical engineering, particularly focusing on attracting younger generations, especially of underrepresented groups, into the field.  

As a Council member, he will be actively contributing to the day-to-day business of the BioMedEng Association and support the organisation of the conferences and other activities of the Association, further promoting biomedical engineering to the academic community and general public.  

Scientifically, Prof. Korossis will be actively promoting and fostering collaborations and work in the engineering of whole biological and biohybrid organs, as well as in the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (3Rs) of animal testing by promoting enhanced integration of advanced in vitro and in silico models into tissue engineering and medical device research and development.

Dr Alex Casson – University of Manchester  

My background is in Electronic Engineering, working on hardware and software for wearable devices and brain-computer interfacing, and I am keen to represent this within the BioMedEng Council.  

I have recently reached the end of my term as chair of the IET healthcare technologies network, and would like to continue to serve the Biomedical engineering community in the UK and internationally. From my volunteering background I bring experience running lecture events, award schemes and similar, together with established networks with other professional bodies.  

I have a substantive appointment in the School of Engineering at the University of Manchester, as well as honorary/visiting appointments in the Medical School at the University of Leeds, and the medical physics department at Northern Care Alliance NHS trust. I would like to use these positions to help others, giving support for crossing discipline boundaries and creating innovative biomedical engineering technologies. 

Prof Peter Ogrodnik – Keele University

Researchers’ and Engineers’ Alliance for Communication in Healthcare (REACH)

We are delighted to invite you to the digital launch of the Researchers’ and Engineers’ Alliance for Communication in Healthcare (REACH) on Friday 23 September at 18:00-19:00 GMT, hosted by Science Gallery London 

Today’s landscape of biomedicine and stakeholder engagement in medical technologies will be discussed with exceptional speakers: 

PROF ANTHONY BULL (Chair of Trustees of the BioMedEng Association and Professor at Imperial College London) 

PROF TRISHA GREENHALGH (Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences and Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Research in Health Sciences Unit, University of Oxford) 

PROF PETER BANNISTER (Healthcare Sector Chair, Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Vice President Life Sciences, Ada Health). 

Bioengineers DR GIOVANNI BIGLINO (University of Bristol) and DR ADELAIDE DE VECCHI (King’s College London), REACH co-founders and co-directors, will join from Science Gallery London and present the vision for the REACH platform in this context. 

Register here for this free event and find out more about REACH.

The event is open to everyone but requires registration. A link for the event will follow after registration. 

REACH is funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and endorsed by the Academy of Medical Sciences. 

BioMedEng Industry Event

Happy New Year!

The BioMedEng Association industry event is less than a week away. The event will take place on 13th January 2022 via Microsoft Teams Live from 4-6 pm.

Our confirmed industry presenters include GE Healthcare, Medisieve, Gill Jennings & Every LLP, Siemens Healthineers etc. The event will also include a panel discussion on the Future of Biomedical Engineering – An industry Perspective. The panel will be chaired by Prof Dario Farina, Chair of Neurorehabilitation Engineering, Imperial College London.

Please find a copy of the draft programme below.

To attend the event, both members and non-members will need to register on Eventbrite with this link. Joining instructions will be sent to registered attendees nearer to the event.

This event will be free for BioMedEng members, but non-members will be charged a £30 attendance fee. To renew your 2022 membership or join the Association, please click here.

The event will provide an opportunity for the BioMedEng community to engage with key firms in the MedTech sector. Prior to the event, please see an Intellectual Property strategy article on ‘Scaling from Lab Bench to Market: The Advantages of Patent Rights in Biomedical, Medical and Bioengineering’ from Gill Jennings & Every LLP below.

If you would like to submit any questions to the panel in advance, please send an email to gifty@biomedeng.org by 17.00 on 11th Jan 2022.

Register now – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-future-of-biomedical-engineering-an-industry-perspective-tickets-239892604237

Save the Dates

Industry Event

The BioMedEng Association will be hosting an industry event on 13th January 2022 via Microsoft Teams Live from 4-6 pm, please save the date. The event will provide an opportunity for the BioMedEng community to engage with key firms in the MedTech sector. This event will be free for BioMedEng members, but non-members will be charged a nominal attendance fee. More information to follow.

BioMedEng22

The BioMedEng22 conference will take place at University College London from 8-9 September 2022, please save the date. The UCL team are looking forward to welcoming you to their campuses in London but are also working towards a hybrid meeting. The conference is being organised by UCL Engineering and UCL Medical Sciences, under the umbrella of the Institute of Healthcare Engineering.

Call for Nominations: BioMedEng Council Working Groups

BioMedEng Council – Admissions

The BioMedEng Council has decided to establish a range of working groups to support the activities and operations of the Association. This was agreed at the recent AGM of the Association and a copy of the minutes is available to members here.

The Council is now inviting nominations for Leaders/Chairs of the following working groups:

  1. Education
  2. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  3. Engagement/Dissemination/Communication
  4. Early Career Researchers
  5. Industry Engagement and Sponsorship
  6. Translation/Public Health/Engagement with Regulators

Elections for these posts will take place in January 2022. Successful candidates will automatically become members of the BioMedEng Council.

To nominate, please send an email with the name, contact details, short biography/CV of the nominee, as well as your contact details and a short description of why you think the person should be considered to chair a particular working group to gifty@biomedeng.org. Self-nominations are allowed. The deadline for receiving all nominations is Friday 17th December 2021.

Partnership: Gill Jennings & Every and BioMedEng Association

BioMedEng Association Engages GJE as its Exclusive Intellectual Property Firm

We are pleased to announce that Gill Jennings & Every LLP (GJE) is now the recommended intellectual property (IP) firm of the Association of Biomedical Engineers, Medical Engineers & Bioengineers (BioMedEng). As part of this exciting new relationship, BioMedEng members will have access to GJE’s expert IP attorneys, and both parties are excited to collaborate on the protection of IP matters in the sector.

GJE Partner, Mr Graham Spenceley said: ‘Biomedical Engineering is an exciting field of medical technology, and the BioMedEng Association represents an extensive range of programmes and a community of top practitioners working and studying in this cutting-edge industry. We are proud that the BioMedEng Association has chosen GJE to be its recommended IP firm as this relationship presents a unique opportunity for us to guide the Association’s membership on their intellectual property. Our firm’s vision is founded on the value of creativity and we look forward to discussing the new and exciting innovations BioMedEng members present us with.’

BioMedEng Secretary, Dr Gifty Tetteh said: ‘We are excited to have GJE on board as our exclusive IP firm. As part of advancing education and knowledge transfer in Biomedical Engineering, Medical Engineering and Bioengineering, the BioMedEng Association supports translating research beyond academia. Our partnership with GJE will contribute towards this and allow our members to profit from a wide range of benefits including complementary intellectual property advice.’

You can find out more about GJE and BioMedEng’s partnership here.

Event: Peter Wells Memorial lecture 2021: Advances in Cancer Care

September 8, 18:30

This lecture remembers Professor Peter Wells, one of the most well-known and highly
regarded figures in the world of medical ultrasound. He pioneered the development
of ultrasonics as a diagnostic and surgical tool, which revolutionised clinical practice
around the world.

Opening remarks
Professor Stephen O’Connor
President, IPEM

Introduction
Professor Sebastien Ourselin
Professor of Healthcare Engineering
Head of School, Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King’s College London

Diagnostic Imaging for Prostate Cancer
Professor Hashim Ahmed
Consultant Urological Surgeon, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and The Cromwell
Hospital, London


Research in Radiotherapy
Professor Teresa Guerrero Urbano
Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and KCL


Radiotherapy
Professor Marcel Van Herk
Chair in Radiotherapy Physics, University of Manchester


Radiotherapy: Lessons from Covid-19
Dr. Jeanette Dickson
Consultant Oncologist, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, President of the Royal College of
Radiologists

Q&A
Professor Steve Keevil
Professor of Medical Physics, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King’s
College London and Head of Medical Physics, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

This is a Teams online event and is free to attend. Click here to register.

Event: BioMedEng Education Workshop – The Impact of COVID-19

The Association of Biomedical Engineers, Medical Engineers & Bioengineers will be hosting an education workshop to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday 2nd July 2021 at 10:00 am.

The workshop will explore the lessons learned for biomedical education in the lockdown. As part of the event, the panel will explore the benefits and challenges associated with remote learning of various biomedical engineering courses. The workshop will be chaired by Prof Kawal Rhode from King’s College London and is being organised in partnership with Prof Manos Drakakis from Imperial College London. Please find a copy of the programme below.

The event will be held on MS Teams and is free to attend. Use this link to join the event: BioMedEng Remote Learning Workshop.

Schedule
10:00Welcome – Prof Anthony Bull, Imperial College London (ICL)
 Workshop Chairs – Prof Kawal Rhode, King’s College London & Prof Manos Drakakis, ICL
  
10:10Lectures & Tutorials during COVID-19 – Chair Dr Jennifer Martay, Anglia Ruskin Uni.
10:15Maximising Online Asynchronous Education – Dr Anita Ghag, University of Birmingham
10:25Maximising Online Synchronous Education – Dr Gabriel Cavalli, QMUL
10:35Methods for Engaging Students Online – Dr Maria Romero-Gonzalez, QMUL
10:45Student view
10:55Discussion – How to best engage students online
  
11:10E-learning & Software for BME Education – Chair Dr Daniel Abasolo, University of Surrey
11:15Electronic / Electrical / Mechatronic Engineering e-learning – Prof Kawal Rhode, KCL
11:25Anatomy & Physiology e-learning – Dr Sylvie Coupaud, University of Strathclyde
11:35Student view
11:45Discussion – Virtual Learning Environments: What were the challenges and limitations?
  
12:00Labs & Projects during COVID-19 – Chair Prof Julia Shelton, QMUL
12:05On-campus Labs + Projects – Dr Sylvain Ladame, Imperial College London
12:15Remote Labs + Projects – Dr Oleg Aslanidi, King’s College London
12:25Student view
12:35Discussion – How has the development of lab/research skills been affected by COVID-19?
  
12:50Remote Examinations during COVID-19 – Chair Prof Sotiris Korossis, Loughborough Uni.
12:55Discussion – How to best adapt examinations for online format
  
13:10What are we taking forward from our experiences? – Chair Prof Kawal Rhode, KCL
13:20Discussion and Wrap-up

Journal Publication: The BioMedEng Association & Frontiers in Medical Technology Partnership

Following on from our successful launch which included a panel discussion on ‘The Bioengineering Response to the Global Pandemic’, we are publishing a collection of articles with the Open Access journal – Frontiers in Medical Technology. The collection will capture the bioengineering response and activity on COVID-19 from research groups in the UK and around the world.

The collection is available online and titled: The Bioengineering Response to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, and the editors are Prof Alicia El Haj – University of Birmingham, Prof Anthony Bull – Imperial College London and Prof Rebecca Shipley – University College London.

The collection will bring together high-level manuscripts from international experts, with the main aim to create an E-Book compilation. Manuscript contributions can be of different types and the deadline for submissions is currently set to 31st March 2021.

For more information, please contact medicaltechnology@frontiersin.org