Biomimetic Materials I

This session will highlight recent activities in the field of biomimetic materials and systems. Topics include coordinating molecular recognition and interactions to design biological, biohybrid, and artificial materials that are structurally or functionally similar to biological structures. In particular, the focus of this session is on systems that mimic well-understood biological and biomolecular principles. We invite topics with emphasis in drug delivery; cell adhesion, signaling, differentiation, and stimulation; tissue engineering and regenerative medicine; interfacial science and engineering; and materials science that involves materials consisting of (i) natural biological molecules such as proteins, oligonucleotides and polynucleotides, and/or unnatural molecules that have been assembled/synthesized by biological systems; (ii) hybrid structures of synthetic (e.g., polymeric chains, metal particles, etc.) and natural biological molecules (i.e., conjugated biomaterials); or (iii) materials consisting of man-made and/or in vitro building blocks, such as synthetic polymers, unnatural amino acids and aptamers, templated materials, polymerosomes, etc. Graduate Students: By applying to this session you may be eligible for the Biomaterials Graduate Student Award Session established to honor the best graduate student submissions through recognition and cash awards. See the session titled 'Biomaterials: Graduate Student Award Session' for details.