Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine: transforming people’s lives
Date: 2 June 2026
Locations: i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Porto City Council, Assembly Hall, 5th floor
Bioengineering and regenerative medicine are redefining the boundaries of modern medicine by opening up new possibilities for repairing, replacing and regenerating tissues and organs, with implications for the entire population, from the youngest to the oldest.?From the interface between biology, engineering and technology, innovative solutions are emerging that promise to profoundly transform the way we treat injuries, chronic diseases and degenerative conditions.
This session aims to bridge the gap between science, clinical practice and society, highlighting how knowledge generated in the laboratory translates into concrete applications with a direct impact on people’s lives. Throughout the day, i3S opens its doors to the community, facilitating direct contact with researchers, cutting-edge technologies and ongoing scientific processes.
The roundtable brings together experts from different fields — from medicine to engineering, from academia to industry and civil society — to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of bioengineering, as well as its role in building innovative, accessible and sustainable solutions for health.
As part of the celebrations marking i3S’s 10th anniversary, this initiative reinforces the institute’s commitment to interdisciplinary science that is innovation-driven and impact-focused, capable of transforming knowledge into solutions that improve the quality of life.
Language: Session in Portuguese
Registration: free but mandatory
Venue
Porto City Council, Assembly Hall, 5th floor
Address: PC GEN Humberto Delgado, 4049-001 Porto
Program
OPEN SCIENCE ACTIVITIES | i3S | Discovering Bioengineering
10h00 – 13h00 Explore and Experiment
Interactive exhibition
• Cutting-edge technologies
• Live demonstrations
• Direct contact with researchers
Throughout the day
Art & Science: Guided tours of the scientific photography exhibition
14h00 – 16h00 Explore and Experiment
Interactive exhibition
ROUND TABLE | Porto City Council
17h00 Opening session
Cristina Ribeiro, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
17h05 Bioengineering and people’s lives
Ana Paula Pego, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
17h30 Round Table | Bioengineering and people’s lives
Panellists
Nuno Neves
Director of the Centre for Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Medicine, CUF Porto Hospital, Portugal
Rui Martins Silva
Medical Coordinator of the Health Department, Futebol Clube do Porto, Portugal
Bento Aire
Chair of the Governing Board, Order of Engineers – Northern Region, Portugal
António Conceição
Chair of the Board, Portugal AVC – Union of Survivors, Family Members and Friends, Portugal
Mário Barbosa
Professor Emeritus at the University of Porto; Founder of INEB and i3S, Portugal
Fernando Jorge Monteiro
Professor Emeritus at the University of Porto; former Director of INEB, Portugal
João Miguel Branco Silva
Medtronic Portugal
19h00 Porto de honra
Speakers
Ana Paula Pego
i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Ana Paula Pêgo is a researcher in biomaterials and nanomedicine and Group Leader at the i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health of the University of Porto. She obtained her PhD in Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials from the University of Twente and later became Principal Investigator at INEB, now integrated into i3S, where she leads the nanoBiomaterials for Targeted Therapies (nBTT) group.
Her research focuses on developing nanomedicine and biomaterial strategies to promote nervous tissue regeneration, including new polymers for nucleic acid delivery, nerve grafts for spinal cord injury, and engineered brain tissue platforms. She also contributes to discussions on the societal and ethical dimensions of regenerative medicine and nanomedicine.
Pêgo is Scientific Director of the Bioimaging Centre for Biomaterials and Regenerative Therapies and Invited Associate Professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar. She is currently a member of the i3S Board of Directors, President of the European Society for Biomaterials, Associate Editor of Biomaterials, and part of the Board of Reviewing Editors of Science.
Nuno Neves
Director of the Centre for Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Medicine, CUF Porto Hospital, Portugal
Nuno Neves is an Orthopaedic Surgeon specialising in spine disorders and Coordinator of the Orthopaedics Service and Spine Unit at the Hospital CUF Porto. He is also Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto and researcher at the i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health.
He completed his medical degree and PhD in Medicine at the University of Porto and has undertaken specialised training in spine pathology in centres such as the Rothman Institute and Paris hospitals. His clinical and research work focuses on spine surgery, bone repair and regeneration, and the development of biomaterials for orthopaedic applications.
Author or co-author of more than 70 scientific publications, he has supervised postgraduate students, contributed to professional training in orthopaedics and spine surgery, and served as examiner for the European Board of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the Revista Portuguesa de Ortopedia e Traumatologia.
Rui Martins Silva
Medical Coordinator of the Health Department, Futebol Clube do Porto, Portugal
Rui Martins da Silva is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, with a particular focus on sports medicine and the care of elite athletes. He is currently a member of the Health Department at Futebol Clube do Porto, where he works with both the professional and youth teams, whilst also serving as Clinical Director of the Portuguese Padel Federation. He began his professional career as a physiotherapist, having worked with professional clubs and national and international teams, an experience that contributed to an integrated approach to the prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation of injuries in a sporting context. Throughout his medical training, he undertook sports medicine placements at internationally renowned institutions and developed specialist training in the fields of football medicine and sports imaging, establishing a clinical practice focused on performance, functional recovery and a safe return to competition.
Bento Aire
Chair of the Governing Board, Order of Engineers – Northern Region, Portugal
Bento Machado Aires is a Civil Engineer and President of the Order of Engineers – Northern Region. He is a visiting lecturer at Porto Business School, where he coordinates and teaches executive programmes in the field of property management. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Urban Regeneration from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, and also has a postgraduate qualification in Project Management from Porto Business School. Throughout his professional career, he has held roles as project manager, communications director and operations director in organisations linked to engineering, property investment and infrastructure management. At the same time, he has maintained strong links with professional associations and institutional activities in the engineering sector, participating in national and international initiatives dedicated to the promotion and development of the profession.
António Conceição
Chair of the Board, Portugal AVC – Union of Survivors, Family Members and Friends, Portugal
António Conceição is the president of Portugal AVC – Union of Survivors, Relatives and Friends. He is a stroke survivor who dedicates his efforts to supporting other patients and promoting post-stroke rehabilitation, having founded this association to help those going through this experience.
Mário Barbosa
Professor Emeritus at the University of Porto; Founder of INEB and i3S, Portugal
Mário Barbosa graduated with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto and obtained his PhD from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. He had a long academic career as a Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto until 2011, subsequently moving to the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences, where he worked until 2020. Since 2021, he has been Professor Emeritus at this institution, having coordinated the group responsible for defining the strategic plan for One Health initiatives.
Internationally recognised as a pioneer in the field of biomaterials. Author of over 310 scientific articles in international journals, he has participated in numerous projects funded by national and international bodies, fostering collaborations with research centres in Europe, Asia and the Americas. His scientific work has also contributed to the advanced training of researchers who now hold leadership positions at leading institutions in Portugal and abroad.
He was a founding member of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and director of i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health of the University of Porto. He has also held leadership roles in doctoral programmes and national scientific agencies, having received several distinctions for scientific and academic merit, both nationally and internationally.
Fernando Jorge Monteiro
Professor Emeritus at the University of Porto; former Director of INEB, Portugal
Fernando Jorge Monteiro holds a bachelor’s and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from FEUP, and taught in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the same faculty for over 47 years. A full professor since 1995, he served on the faculty’s governing body (2010–2014) and directed several bachelor’s, master’s and integrated master’s programmes in the fields of Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering. Alongside his teaching career, which he left in 2023, Fernando Jorge Monteiro served as president of the National Institute of Biomedical Engineering (INEB) and was a member of the management team at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S) at the University of Porto between 2015 and 2020, the year in which he took up his role as a member of the University of Porto’s General Council (2020–2023). As a researcher at these institutions, he distinguished himself in the development of new biomaterials for applications in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. He also developed nanophasic theranostic systems for use in early detection and nanotherapies for certain types of cancer.
João Miguel Branco Silva
Medtronic Portugal
João Miguel Branco Silva is Neuromodulation Lead at Medtronic Portugal, with a background in Biomedical Engineering. His career spans the medical device industry, including experience in IT consultancy at Novabase and in innovation and operational excellence at Siemens Healthineers, where he contributed to process optimisation, risk assessment, and R&D project management certification. Since joining Medtronic in 2011, he has led territory and team management while working closely with clinicians, hospital management, and healthcare decision-makers, supporting therapy adoption and the integration of innovative technologies into clinical practice. He holds an Executive Master in Health Services Management, with a focus on Value-Based Healthcare.
