Between 6-10 September 2015 we based on our inititative organized the 1st World Congress on Electroporation. Congress has registered 400 participants from 48 countries and 6 continents. The congress included 376 contributions, of these 231 were in the form of lectures and 162 in poster form. Within the Congress, we organized a competition for young scientists. 51 participants entered the competition, of which 21 were selected as finalists in three categories. The meeting was organized with the intent of bringing together people from different disciplines possessing diverse expertise, who are involved in basic research or are developing applications based on electroporation and the use of pulsed electric fields of high intensity. The aim was to create an environment stimulating interdisciplinary interactions, to present latest achievements and demonstrate current knowledge. This aim was reached, and we also assess the congress to have been an overall success, as the next, 2nd world congress is already in preparation, to be held in September 2017 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 280922880Technical Museum of Slovenia, Faculty of Electrical Engineering (University of Ljubljana) and the Slovenian Society for Medical and Biological Engineering have jointly published a book titled Biomedical Engineering in Slovenia: Engineering for health. Biomedical engineering is one of the fastest emerging scientific and technological fields in the world and has an increasing impact on our health and quality of life, and this trend will continue in the future. Book authors, Dr. Romana Erhatič Širnik, Dr. Orest Jarh and prof. dr. Damijan Miklavčič, together with other contributors to the book, describe six decades of development of biomedical engineering in Slovenia, and is important both as documentary material and for popularization of biomedical engineering and its affirmation in Slovenia.
C.02 Editorial board of a national monograph
COBISS.SI-ID: 280812544Biological cell is the basic building block of every living organism. It has a membrane, which regulates the movement of substances into and out of the cell, protecting it from external influences. However, we sometimes need to introduce molecules into the cell for which there are no transport mechanisms. For example, when we eat vegetables or meat, we want our enzymes to enter the cells of our food to get in order to get as many nutrients as possible. Further, if we want to squeeze orange juice, we must penetrate the cell membrane. And when we want to treat tumors, the medicine must find its way into the cell. But how can we open the cell? The method that is able to do all that is electroporation. With its help, we can treat tumors more effectively, squeeze more juice from the fruit, and even cook. We presented this diverse range of applications of electroporation to a wider public in a TV show of one hour duration.
F.35 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 2115451In November 2016, we successfully organized and carried out the 10th international scientific workshop and postgraduate course "Electroporation-based Technologies and Treatments". The workshop was first organized in 2003 and started as a biennial event. Due to its success and increased interest of students and researchers in the field, in 2011 it became an annual event. So far we have hosted 645 atendees from 38 different countries. The lecturers are the most eminent and established international experts in electroporation, such as Lluis M. Mir, Jim Weaver, Marie-Pierre Rols, Boris Rubinsky, Gregor Serša, Mounir Tarek, Justin Teissié, P. Thomas Vernier, Rafael Davalos, Pouyan Boukany, Dietrich Knorr, Eugene Vorobiev, Javier Raso, Maja Čemazar, Julie Gehl, Antoni Ivorra, Henry Jäger, Rodney P. O'Connor, Veronique Preat. The postgraduate course is a part of the credit system of the EU doctoral studies programmes and is also acredited with Slovenian Medical Chamber, so that medical doctors attending the school receive CME (Continuing Medical Education) certificate, while the students passing the exam of the course "Electroporation-based technologies and treatments" (code J-2-441) of the Interdisciplinary doctoral study of Biomedicine at the University of Ljubljana are awarded 5 ECTS credits.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 287066112Prof. Tadej Kotnik gave a talk at the largest national TEDx event organized on 8 November 2015 in the Ivan Cankar Centre in Ljubljana, describing the hypothesis that horizontal gene transfer in nature proceeds through abiotic mechanisms: cell membrane permeability increase due to lightning-triggered electroporation in near-surface aqueous habitats, freeze-and-thaw-triggered cryoporation in polar waters and permafrost, and mechanoporation through agitation by sand at foreshores and riverbeds. The event had 1600 attendees in the Cankar Centre, and the talk was also transmitted live on the web.
B.04 Guest lecture