I am happy to announce that the Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium will be held in Leipzig for the fourth time. Focusing on »Rapid Prototyping and Scaffolds – New Techniques for Tissue Engineering«, the symposium will be an affiliated meeting of the World Conference on Regenerative Medicine (WRM) and will take place at the Congress Center Leipzig on the 29th of October 2009.

The Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium with its annually alternating topics has become an acknowledged event that brings together experts from different fields of life sciences. Each year the organizers choose an interesting and current cutting-edge topic. This year’s topic is Rapid Prototyping.
The synergy between rapid prototyping and regenerative medicine offers mutually beneficially points of contact for each research area. Experts from rapid prototyping are able to deliver innovative scaffolds and materials for medical use that can be colonized with specific cells. This provides the basis for new technologies and therapies.
The 4th Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium offers a platform for both branches to meet and exchange knowledge as well as identify new cooperation partners and establish interesting contacts.

The host of the event, the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, this year is supported by the Fraunhofer Alliance Rapid Prototyping as well as by the Central Germany Rapid Prototyping Network, »enficos«. Both contribute to the symposium with their expertise and contacts in the sector.
For the scientific program two renowned researchers have confirmed their participation: Minna Kellomäki from the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the Tampere University of Technology, Finland is an expert in the development of biodegradable materials and tissue engineering implants. Lorenzo Moroni from the Department of Tissue Regeneration of the University of Twente, Netherlands will give a lecture about the design of rapid prototyped smart scaffolds in regenerative medicine.

The city of Leipzig offers an excellent infrastructure in biotechnology and medicine as well as an ideal cultural urban background for the realization of an event such as the 4th Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium.
This year the University of Leipzig celebrates its 600th anniversary which includes many scientific and public events around the newly built campus and the city centre.

I cordially invite you to join the 4th Fraunhofer Life Science Symposium. We look forward to welcoming you to Leipzig in October 2009.

With kind regards,

Professor Dr. Frank Emmrich