|
|
| |
Keynote Speakers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Lifeng Chi |
|
Professor |
|
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences |
|
Foreign Member of Academia Europaea |
|
College of Nano Science & Technology |
|
Soochow University |
|
China |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Harald Fuchs |
|
Professor |
|
Head |
|
Physikalisches Institut and Center for Nanotechnology (CeNTech) |
|
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster |
|
Germany |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Ricardo Garcia |
|
Professor |
|
Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM) |
|
CSIC |
|
Spain |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Julia Gorelik |
|
Professor |
|
National Heart and Lung Institute |
|
Imperial College London |
|
UK |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Peter Hinterdorfer |
|
Professor |
|
Institute for Biophysik |
|
Group Leader Atomic Force Microscopy |
|
Johannes Kepler University Linz |
|
Austria |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: Distinct Binding Mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Variants Leads to Enhanced Infectivity and Viral Transmission |
|
Abstract: Recent waves of COVID-19 correlate with the emergence of the Delta and the Omicron variant. In this study, we combined high-speed atomic force microscopy with single molecule recognition force spectroscopy to investigate, at single molecule resolution, the interaction dynamics of trimeric Spike with its essential entry receptor ACE2. We report that Spike trimer undergoes rapid conformational changes on surfaces, resulting in arc-like movements of the three receptor binding domains (RBDs) that collectively screen a circular range of almost 360° degrees. Acting as a highly dynamic molecular caliper, it thereby forms up to three tight bonds through its RBDs with ACE2 expressed on the cell surface. The Spike of both Delta and Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant enhance and markedly prolong viral attachment to the host cell receptor ACE2, which likely not only increases the rate of viral uptake, but also enhances the resistance of the variants against host-cell detachment by shear forces such as airflow, mucus or blood flow. We uncovered distinct binding mechanisms and strategies employed by circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants to enhance infectivity and viral transmission. The capacity of lectins to block SARS-CoV-2 viral entry holds promise for pan-variant therapeutic interventions. Out of a lectin library, two lectins, Clec4g and CD209c, were identified to strongly bind to the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Multiple bond formations lead to stable complex formation, in which the number of formed bonds enhanced the overall interaction strength and dynamic stability of the lectin/Spike complexes. We also determined the binding capacity of a molecularly engineered lectin cloned from banana, BanLec H84T, which was shown to display broad-spectrum antiviral activity against several RNA viruses. Our studies revealed that H84T-BanLec strongly interacts with the Spike protein of the original viral strain, Wuhan-1 and several variants of concern (Delta, Omicron), which makes it a promising clinical candidate for defeating viral infectivity and transmission. |
|
|
|
Gunhee Jang |
|
Professor |
|
Member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea |
|
Department of Mechanical Engineering |
|
Hanyang University |
|
Korea |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Kostadin Kostadinov |
|
Professor |
|
Institute of Mechanics |
|
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences |
|
Bulgaria |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
James Morris |
|
Emeritus Professor |
|
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering |
|
Portland State University |
|
IEEE Life Fellow |
|
President (2020-2021), IEEE Nanotechnology Council |
|
USA |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: Applications of Discontinuous Metal Thin Films to Electronics Packaging |
|
Abstract: When a metal is deposited on insulating substrate, e.g., Au on glass in vacuo, it initially grows as discrete nanoscale metal islands separated by nm gaps. Such films conduct charge by interisland tunnelling with an electrostatic activation energy. The presentation will briefly cover the widely accepted conduction model and a revised contact injection version which explains most of the former’s problems as an introduction. There is a large body of literature on discontinuous metal thin film (DMTF) applications as strain gauges and hydrogen sensors which both have potential applications as reliability sensors in electronics packaging, but the presentation will cover a much wider range of less developed technologies, especially one suggested by a recent analysis of AC data. Early interest in these DMTFs was frustrated by a lack of reproducibility in their fabrication and subsequent drift in properties and the presentation will briefly survey some suggestions to solve both the reproducibility and reliability problems. It will conclude with the description of a fabrication technique which holds the promise of manufacturability and commercial applications. |
|
|
|
Valentin Popov |
|
Professor |
|
Director of Institute of Mechanics |
|
Department System Dynamics and Friction Physics |
|
Technical University of Berlin |
|
Germany |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Istvan Szilagyi |
|
Associate Professor |
|
Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science |
|
University of Szeged |
|
Hungary |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: Nanoplastics and PFAS: Unveiling the Pathway for Contaminant Transport and Toxicity in Aquatic Systems |
|
Abstract: The presence of nano-sized plastic contaminants in aquatic environments has raised significant concerns regarding their interactions with other emerging pollutants. Among these, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are of particular interest due to their widespread use, environmental persistence, and potential toxicity. This keynote talk explores recent advances in understanding how nanoplastics act as carriers for PFAS, influencing their transport, adsorption behavior, and biological impacts. Important findings on the role of charge and fluorocarbon chain length in PFAS adsorption onto nanoplastic surfaces will be discussed, highlighting how these interactions modulate PFAS mobility in water. In addition, insights into the colloidal stability of PFAS-nanoplastic complexes will be presented, drawing connections to their cytotoxicity and potential implications for aquatic ecosystems. By integrating findings from multiple studies, this talk will provide a comprehensive perspective on the dual threat posed by nanoplastics and PFAS, emphasizing the urgent need for regulatory strategies and further research into their combined environmental and health risks. |
|
|
|
Yanling Tian |
|
Professor |
|
School of Engineering |
|
University of Warwick |
|
UK |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Luisa Torsi |
|
Professor |
|
University of Bari |
|
Vice-President of the Scientific Committee of the Italian National Research Council |
|
President of the Regional Center on Single-Molecule Digital Assay |
|
Past-President of the European Material Research Society |
|
Italy |
|
Personal homepage1/Personal homepage2
|
|
Title: Transforming Antigenic Portable Technologies into Highly Dependable Screening Devices |
|
|
|
|
|
Joseph Tracy |
|
Professor |
|
Department of Materials Science and Engineering |
|
North Carolina State University |
|
USA |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Salvador Pané i Vidal |
|
Professor |
|
Co-director of the Multi-Scale Robotics Lab |
|
Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) |
|
ETH Zürich |
|
Switzerland |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Zhonglin Wang |
|
Professor |
|
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences |
|
Director of Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems |
|
Chinese Academy of Sciences |
|
China |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Zhiping Xu |
|
Professor |
|
Senior Group Leader |
|
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology |
|
The University of Queensland |
|
Australia |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Tomaso Zambelli |
|
Professor |
|
Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioelectronics (LBB) |
|
Institute for Biomedical Engineering |
|
ETH Zürich |
|
Switzerland |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: to be announced |
|
|
|
|
|
Li Zhang |
|
Professor |
|
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering (MAE) |
|
Professor by Courtesy, Department of Surgery |
|
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) |
|
Hong Kong SAR, China |
|
Personal homepage |
|
Title: Magnetic Miniature Robots for Endoluminal Interventions: From Individual to Microswarms |
|
Abstract: Robotics at small scales has attracted considerable research attention both in its fundamental aspects and potential biomedical applications. As the characteristic dimensions of the robots or machines scaling down to the milli-/microscale or even smaller, they are ideally suited to navigating in tiny and tortuous lumens inside the human body which are hard-to-reach by regular medical devices. Although the materials, structural design, and functionalization of micro-/nanorobots have been studied extensively, several key challenges have not yet been adequately investigated for in vivo applications, such as adaptive locomotion in dynamic physiological environments, in vivo localization with clinical imaging modalities, the efficiency of therapeutic intervention, biosafety, and their autonomy for the intervention tasks.
In this talk, I will first present our recent research progress on development of magnetic miniature robots, from individual and modular designs to the microswarms, for rapid endoluminal delivery. Then the key challenges and perspective of using magnetic miniature robots for localized therapy and clinically relevant applications with a focus on endoluminal procedures will be discussed. |
*The list of Keynote Speakers is based on the alphabetical order of family names. |
|
|
