ICMTB 2026

Prof. Dr. Nesrin Hasirci

Professor of Biomaterials | Near East University, Northern Cyprus

Talk Title: Medical Devices: From Past to Future

Prof. Nesrin Hasirci is a distinguished biomaterials scientist specializing in biomaterials and tissue engineering applications of polymers and composites for the diagnosis and treatment of soft and hard tissues. She is currently affiliated with Near East University and serves as Advisory Board member at the METU BIOMATEN Center of Excellence in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering. She has authored more than 250 scientific publications, several books and book chapters, and holds multiple patents. Prof. Hasirci has supervised over 70 graduate theses and delivered more than 500 presentations at international and national conferences. She is a Fellow of the Science Academy of Turkey and an Honorary Member of the European Society for Biomaterials.

Dr. Vladimir Dyo

Lecturer in Communications and Signal Processing | Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom

Talk Title: Wearable and Device-Free Sensing for Healthcare and Assisted Living Applications

Dr. Vladimir Dyo is a Lecturer in Communications and Signal Processing at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has held research positions at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory and Microsoft Research Cambridge and was a founding member of the Electronic Engineering programme at the University of Bedfordshire. His research focuses on wireless sensing, IoT systems, and machine learning, with applications in healthcare, assisted living, and smart environments. He is a recipient of the Shell Centenary Scholarship and the EPSRC/Vodafone Dorothy Hodgkin Award and has published in leading journals and conferences, including IEEE Sensors Journal and ACM SenSys.

Dr. Gladiola Goranci-Buzhala

Scientific Coordinator and Researcher | CECAD Research Center, University of Cologne, Germany

Talk Title: Stem Cell-Derived Organoids as a Tool to Understand and Target Disease Mechanisms

Dr. Gladiola Goranci-Buzhala is a researcher and scientific coordinator in the Department of Cell Biology of the Skin at the CECAD Research Center, University of Cologne. Her work focuses on stem-cell-derived organoids to investigate cell polarity, mechanobiology, and disease mechanisms in cancer, particularly squamous cell carcinoma. She completed her PhD at the University of Cologne, where she studied primary cilia in glioma stem cells using brain organoid models. She has published in journals including Cell Reports and has presented her research at international conferences such as ISSCR, EMBO, and the German Stem Cell Network.

Dr. Sean Connell

Ikerbasque Research Associate | Biobizkaia, Bilbao, Spain

Talk Title: From Mechanism to Drug Target: Structural Insights into Antibiotic Action and Ribosome Biology in Bacteria

Dr. Sean Connell is an Ikerbasque Research Associate at Biobizkaia (Bilbao, Spain) specializing in the structural and mechanistic basis of ribosome-targeting antibiotics and rRNA modification enzymes as novel antimicrobial drug targets. He received his PhD from the University of Alberta (Canada) and trained at the Max Planck Institute, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and Goethe University Frankfurt. With an h-index of 28 and over 4,300 citations, he has published in leading journals including Nature, Molecular Cell, EMBO Journal, and Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

Assoc. Prof. Iris Allajbeu

Associate Professor of Radiology | University of Cambridge / Western Balkans University, United Kingdom / Albania

Talk Title: The Future of Breast Cancer Screening: Is AI the Missing Piece? From Population Screening to Risk-Adapted and Personalized Detection.

Prof. Iris Allajbeu is an internationally recognized academic radiologist with over 15 years of clinical, teaching, and research experience. She is Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant Radiologist at the University of Cambridge, where her work focuses on the early detection of breast cancer using advanced imaging techniques and artificial intelligence. She also serves as Radiology Curriculum Lead at Western Balkans University and is President and Founder of the Albanian Society of Breast Imaging (ALSOBI). Her research focuses on improving diagnostic accuracy in women with dense breast tissue through multimodal imaging, imaging biomarkers, and artificial intelligence, with contributions to high-impact studies including the BRAID trial published in The Lancet.

Prof. Dr. Pinar Yilgor

Professor of Biomedical Engineering | Ankara University, Turkey

Prof. Pinar Yilgor is Professor and Head of Biomedical Engineering at Ankara University and Director of MEDITAM, focusing on patient-specific implants and 3D printing technologies. She completed her PhD in Biomaterials through a joint European program and conducted postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. Her research spans biomaterials, tissue engineering, and bioprinting, supported by major funding bodies including TUBITAK, the EU, and NATO. She holds eight patents and has authored over 70 publications and 20 book chapters, and is a recipient of awards including TUBA-GEBIP, BAGEP, and the Aziz Sancar Incentive Award.

Prof. Dr. Arben Merkoçi

ICREA Research Professor | Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), Spain

Talk Title: Nanobiosensors as Sustainable Point-of-Care Devices for Continuous Health Monitoring.

Prof. Arben Merkoçi is an ICREA Research Professor and leader of the Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), Spain. His research focuses on nanomaterials and biofunctional nanostructures for the development of advanced biosensors and diagnostic technologies. He has published more than 370 scientific articles and supervised over 40 PhD theses. Prof. Merkoçi is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Albania and the European Academy of Sciences and serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Biosensors and Bioelectronics.

Assoc. Prof. Ali Hindi

Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice | Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, UK

Talk Title: Building the Evidence Base for Pharmacy Practice: Lessons from the UK and Beyond

Dr. Ali Hindi (BPharm, MSc, PhD, FHEA) is a Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice at the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, UK. His research focuses on the integration of pharmacists into healthcare settings, the evaluation of pharmacy service quality, and the role of pharmacists in primary care. He is a former NIHR School for Primary Care Research Postdoctoral Fellow and has led the development of quality frameworks to support the integration of community pharmacy services into primary care systems.

Dr. Jemma Arakelyan

Laboratory for Synthetic Chemistry and Chemical Biology (LSCCB), Hong Kong, China | The Institute of Cancer and Crisis, Yerevan, Armenia | Immune Oncology Research Institute, Yerevan, Armenia

Talk Title: The Gold Standard: Multidisciplinary Care in Modern Oncology.

Jemma Arakelyan, MD, PhD, is a dedicated medical oncologist. She currently serves as the CEO of the Institute of Cancer and Crisis, the Deputy CEO of the Immune Oncology Research Institute, and as a clinical researcher at the Laboratory for Synthetic Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Her work is driven by a singular goal: to improve the lives of cancer patients.

Dr. Leidon Shapo

Public Health Expert, United Kingdom

Talk Title: Emerging Infectious Diseases and Outbreak Management: From Public Health Policy to Real-World Implementation

Dr. Leidon Shapo is a senior public health specialist with extensive experience leading population health initiatives, evidence-based research, and system-wide service improvements. His expertise spans public health practice, health and social care integration, policy analysis, and strategic advocacy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Shapo played a key role in the public health response, leading programmes focused on older adults, vaccination uptake, and health protection support for local care facilities. He has worked across multiple healthcare organisations in the UK and has international experience in developing countries, collaborating with organisations such as WHO, UNDP, UNICEF, and DFID. Dr. Shapo has published in respected peer-reviewed journals and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal for Infection Disease Control (JIDC).

Dr. Halime Kenar

Head of Graduate Department of Biomaterials | Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey

Talk Title: Human Placental Disc ECM as a Wound Dressing and Coating Material and Scaffolds

Dr. Halime Kenar (BSc, MSc, PhD) is Head of the Graduate Department of Biomaterials at Acibadem University and a faculty member in the Biomedical Engineering Department. She completed her undergraduate studies in Biology, followed by MSc and PhD degrees in Biotechnology, at Middle East Technical University. Her academic career includes a decade at Kocaeli University, where she served as a faculty member and principal investigator at the Diabetes and Obesity Research Unit. Her research focuses on biomaterials, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine, with expertise in decellularization, 3D bioprinting, and advanced human tissue models, including applications in cardiac, skin, and diabetic wound healing.

Dr. Sara Beqiri

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, USA

Talk Title: Growth rate symmetry of large hypertransmission defects (hyperTDs) in AMD patients with bilateral hyperTDs

Dr. Sara Beqiri is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, consistently ranked as the leading ophthalmology program in the United States. She completed her medical degree at University College London, where she also obtained an intercalated degree in Computer Science and Mathematics in Medicine. Driven by a strong interest in integrating clinical ophthalmology with advanced computational methods, Dr. Beqiri moved to the United States to pursue an academic research fellowship at Bascom Palmer. Her work focuses on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with particular emphasis on identifying imaging biomarkers of disease progression and improving the design and efficiency of clinical trials in retinal diseases.