Section on Chemical Engineering as Applied to Medicine

Mission and Objectives of the Section

 
There is a significant change in the way that life and medical scientists and go about their business of unscrambling the mysteries of life and how clinicians diagnose and make operational decisions.  Chemical Engineers have an important role to play in this field, one so important for human well-being. At the 2005 Chemical Engineering World Congress in Glasgow Denis Noble, Professor of Physiology at Oxford University, spoke in his plenary lecture about the computational model of the heart that he and his research group have developed over the past thirty or more years.  Their project reflects true systems thinking in physiology and demonstrates the need for Engineers and, given the significant element of chemical transformation in the human body, particularly Chemical Engineers to contribute their skills and expertise to research and in due course practice in Physiology and Medicine.

Chemical Engineers are already bringing a significant skillset to physiology and medicine: modelling and systems engineering techniques to tackle the complexity of physiology, transport and reaction engineering to model medical instruments such as dialysis, designing artificial organs processing chemical entities, developing devices controlling drug and nutrient feeds, and considering the effects of particulates on human health to name a few. Chemical Engineers have been developing engineering design and analysis approaches to modelling biological systems across multiple levels – cell signalling networks, gene, protein and metabolic networks, movement of molecules and fluids, through to whole physiological systems.

There is some systematic activity by professional entities. Chemical Engineering Science has commissioned a special issue on Process Systems Engineering applied to Medicine. There would potentially be overlap with ESBES although their interests are very much in the production of medicines (and other substances) biologically rather than in aspects of human physiology.

The new Section aims to bring together the diverse activities of Chemical Engineers and their collaborators to share ideas, experience and techniques through meetings, workshops, and conferences, bringing together work by Chemical Engineers in different areas of medicine.

In addition to the fields of activities mentioned above, the Section will address the role of chemical engineering in the development of:

• Artificial organs
• Drug delivery systems

The Section would aim to work with professional bodies in Physiology and Medicine through joint workshops and to encourage joint projects amongst active members. It would also seek to inspire young people to study Chemical Engineering who also have an interest in medicine and health.

Section Members

CHAIR:

Prof. Tomasz R. SOSNOWSKI, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland

SECTION SECRETARY:

Prof. Davide MANCA, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

MEMBERS:

• Roberto ABBIATI, Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany
• Brahim BENYAHIA, Loughborough University, UK
• David BOGLE, University College London, UK
• Paolo CIAMBELLI, Narrando, Italy
• Marc-Olivier COPPENS, Univ. College London, UK
• Christelle CRAMPON, Aix-Marseille University, France
• Maria Norberta DE PINHO, University of Lisboa, Portugal
• Arkadiusz KUCZAJ, Phillip Morris International R&D, Switzerland
• Eva MARTIN VALLE, University of Salamanca, Spain
• Yasmine MASMOUDI, Aix-Marseille University, France
• Martin MORGENEYER, University of Technology of Compiegne, France
• Maria PAPATHANASIOU, Imperial College London, UK
• Cesar PICHARDO, Astra Zeneca, UK
• Simona SALERNO, Institute on Membrane Technology, National Research Council of Italy, IT
• Viola TOKAROVA, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Czech Republic

Events of the Section

Spotlight Talk

 
30 May 2023, 14:00 - 16:00 CEST
Chemical engineering as applied to medicine: current challenges and opportunities

 > Recording (YouTube)

4th European Forum on New Technologies (EFNT)

5 December 2022, Paris, France

 
The meeting gathered 37 persons from 11 countries (France: 10; UK: 8; Italy: 4; Czech Republic: 3; Germany: 3; Finland: 2; Spain: 2; The Netherlands: 2; Poland: 1; Portugal: 1; Brasil: 1). Six persons represented industrial sector (e.g., AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Philip Morris Products, Sanofi, Veolia), other participants were affiliated with academia.

The Forum was opened by Giorgio Veronesi, the President of EFCE who welcomed all participants. A short welcome also was brought by Francois Nicol, the president of SFGP and Martine Poux (SFGP-EFCE), the organizer of EFNT. Then a short introduction was done by David Bogle and Tomasz Sosnowski, who defined the background and scope of a new EFCE Section “Chemical Engineering as Applied to Medicine”.

The scientific programme of 4th SFNT was divided into 3 parts:

• part A “Physiology and chemical engineering – the obvious link” (3 lectures + discussion),
• part B “Chemical Engineering in the specific challenges of medicine” (4 lectures + discussion)
• part C “Advancements of medical technologies and products via Chemical Engineering approach” (4 lectures + discussion).

Detailed Programme

The scientific event was connected to the kick-off meeting of the new EFCE Section “Chemical Engineering as Applied to Medicine” (ChemE-Med).