A half-day symposium bringing together engineers and biomedical researchers developing the next generation of technologies for biomedical research, with a particular focus on microphysiological systems and tissue engineering.
The Making in Biomed Symposium, organised by the Francis Crick Institute's Making Science Technology Platform, brings together researchers developing and applying engineering approaches to address complex biomedical challenges.
The symposium provides a forum for researchers across London and beyond to share ideas, discuss emerging technologies, and build new collaborations. By bringing together expertise from a wide range of disciplines, we aim to foster cross-disciplinary exchange, highlight innovative engineering developments, and create opportunities for new translational research projects.
We welcome researchers working across areas including cell biology, mechanobiology, cancer research, neuroscience, biochemistry and related disciplines, particularly those developing or applying technologies such as microfluidics, biomaterials, tissue engineering, bioprinting, in vitro models, microphysiological systems, and micro- and nanomanufacturing.
We particularly encourage students, early career researchers and those with work in progress to submit an abstract for a contributed talk or poster presentation. Abstract submissions close on 23 September 2026.
Title: "Engineering the Cellular Microenvironment: From Vascular Networks to Artificial Axons"
Emad Moeendarbary is Professor of Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London. He obtained first-class BSc and MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology, followed by a Master’s degree in Computational Soft Matter Physics at Nanyang Technological University. He then moved into mechanobiology for his PhD at the London Centre for Nanotechnology (Charras Lab). He subsequently held a Herchel Smith Fellowship at the Cambridge (Franze Lab), investigating the mechanobiology of the central nervous system, followed by a Wellcome Trust Fellowship in the Kamm Lab at MIT, where he developed expertise in microfluidics and organ-on-chip technologies. His laboratory combines engineering, physics and cell biology to understand how the mechanical microenvironment regulates cell and tissue function in health and disease. His group develops advanced microfluidic and organ-on-chip systems and mechanically tunable cellular microenvironments, together with quantitative approaches, including atomic force microscopy and traction force microscopy. Current research spans vascularised microphysiological systems and engineered artificial axon platforms to study myelination and the mechanobiology of the nervous system.
Albane Imbert, Head of the Making Science Technology Platform, The Francis Crick Institute
Christina Dix, Making Science Technology Platform, The Francis Crick Institute
Federico Nebuloni, Making Science Technology Platform, The Francis Crick Institute
Ross Burdis, Making Science Technology Platform, The Francis Crick Institute
Many thanks to our sponsors Durham Magneto Optics, Sensofar UK and Fluicell for supporting this event.
