Opening ceremony of the Baltic Biomaterials Centre of Excellence in Riga
Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini and Dr. Liliana Liverani attended the opening ceremony and kick-off meeting of the Baltic Biomaterials Centre of Excellence (BBCE)at Riga Technical University (RTU), Latvia, which was opened by the president of Latvia, Mr Egils Levits. BBCE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme within the Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation scheme. The project´s main objective is to establish a joint Centre of Excellence for advanced biomaterials development based on the long-term strategic cooperation between AO Research Institute Davos, Switzerland (ARI) and Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany (FAU) on the one hand and four Latvian research institutions, including Riga Technical University (RTU), Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Riga Stradins University (RSU) and RSU Institute of Stomatology. BBCE will carry out advanced research on biomaterials for medical applications. Cooperation between industry and research organisations will be encouraged, leading to technology transfer and delivery of new products into the market and to the grow of the biomaterials R&D sector in Latvia. The FAU Institute of Biomaterials, as advanced partner of BBCE will be in charge of the training of research staff of BBCE and will accompany and support the development of the centre with focus on bioactive materials for bone tissue engineering and drug delivery applications. Prof. Boccaccini is also a member of the steering committe of BBCE. In the pictures, Prof. Janis Locs (RTU, BBCE coordinator), Dr. Mauro Alini (ARI), Dr. L. Liverani (FAU), Prof. Boccaccini (FAU).
