23–24 Mar 2009
KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
Europe/Stockholm timezone

Please note: The venue of the symposium is room F3 of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Lindstedtsväg 26. <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Lindstedtsv%C3%A4g+26+Stockholm&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.489543,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=59.346874,18.074106&spn=0.010524,0.027637&z=15&output=embed&s=AARTsJpl4qzyW6HUg-atluddinF3VyMsnQ"></iframe>
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Overview

Nanomaterials are nowadays part of our everyday life. They are used in cosmetics products. We breathe nanoparticles on a daily basis since they are produced by the present-day automobile engines. Meanwhile, nanomaterials are also being developed for biomedical purposes, thus sooner or later they are likely used as carriers of drugs, improving our health.

How much do we actually know about the environmental and health effects of nanomaterials? Too little. Is there possibly reason for concern? Yes. Is it possible that nanomaterials could be used for applications improving the quality our lives, if we just understood their properties well enough. Definitely yes.

The bottom line is that the environmental and health effects of nanomaterials are of global concern, both in view of assessing the impact of nanomaterials discharged into nature and for a safe and transparent development of nanotechnology, especially in relation to novel applications in biomedicine. At present, nanomaterials are already produced at an industrial scale and the number of consumer products featuring nanomaterials is increasing at a rapid pace. At the same time, detailed understanding of the potential biological and ecological effects of nanomaterials and the related legislation are clearly lagging behind. Some of the key questions related to these issues are the transport, uptake and transformation of nanomaterials in air, soil and natural waters, as well as within biological organisms.

To treat these questions and related issues, the Symposium on "Assessment of Biological Effects of Nanomaterials" will be organized by Nordita on the campus of KTH (The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden). The Symposium is a full, two-day scientific meeting with invited presentations, contributed talks as well as discussion sessions related to important and topical questions around the themes of nanomaterials acting on biological systems.

One of the main overall objectives of the Symposium is to promote synergy in this field through discussions and collaborations, matching theoretical and experimental groups, coupling the theoretical work as closely as possible with experiments.

We are expecting participants from different fields of science, such as physics, chemistry, biochemistry, biology, environmental sciences, and medical sciences. The Symposium is free of charge and open for anyone to attend. However, we kindly ask for all of the participants to register in advance to the Symposium, so that we have a clear idea of the number of participants.

In order to apply for a presentation in the Symposium, please send an abstract of your presentation, either in DOC or PDF format (max 1 page) to the program chairman Emppu Salonen (e-mail: Firstname.Lastname@tkk.fi). Deadline: January 15, 2009.

The topics of the Symposium include (but are not limited to):

  • Theory and simulations applied to nanomaterials acting on biological systems
  • Coupling theory and simulations with experiments as closely as possible
  • Environmental fate of nanomaterials
  • Bioavailability and toxicology
  • Fundamental interactions of nanomaterials with biological systems
  • Green nanotechnology
  • Biomedical applications, drug delivery
  • Characterization, detection, and monitoring
  • Exposure and risk assessment, regulation policies

Symposium speakers (confirmed)

  • Baoshan Xing, University of Massachusetts, USA
  • Pekka Koskinen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
  • Jayne Wallace, University of Oxford, UK
  • Luca Monticelli, INSERM, France / Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
  • Sijie Lin, Clemson University, USA
  • Anna Shvedova, West Virginia University, USA
  • Yuri Volkov, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
  • Peter Tieleman, University of Calgary, Canada
  • Olle Edholm, KTH, Sweden
  • Peter Wick, EMPA, Switzerland
  • Anne Thoustrup Saber, National Institute of Occupational Health, Denmark

Starts
Ends
Europe/Stockholm
KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
F3
Lindstedtsväg 26

We kindly ask that Symposium participants will handle their travel and accommodation arrangements by themselves.

As for accommodation, advance booking for 20 rooms has been made in one of the cosy hotels close to the campus, Hotel Arcadia. The price is 1120/1170 SEK per night, for two different types of a room.

Also, advance booking has also been made for 40 rooms in Hotel Oden; booking number is G 245 139. The price for a single room is 1060 SEK per night.

Please contact the hotels directly, if you wish to make a reservation and use the hotel rooms booked in advance. Reservation is possible from March 22 to March 25, 2009. Both hotels include breakfast.

The Symposium is part of a larger research Program arranged as a 3-week event in Nordita (see description of the Program here).

Organizers of the Symposium:
Emppu Salonen (Chairman)
Ilpo Vattulainen (co-chair)