The 7th Stevens Conference on Bacteria-Material Interactions
About
June 11-12, 2025 at Stevens Institute of Technology
The 7th Stevens Conference on Bacteria-Material Interactions will address the many dimensions associated with how different stakeholder communities can converge to push the rate of device-associated infection towards zero over the coming decade.
Download the Program
The downloadable program provides a comprehensive overview of the 7th Stevens Conference on Bacteria-Material Interaction. Inside the PDF, you'll find:
Full Agenda: Detailed schedules for both days, including session titles, presentation times, speaker names, affiliations and moderators.
Session Themes: Topics include clinical and patient perspectives, intervention strategies, biofilm control, translational technologies, and healthcare disparities.
Poster Listings: A complete list of over 35 poster presentations, with titles, presenter names and institutional affiliations.
Speaker and Moderator Index: Quick reference to all session moderators and invited speakers.
Presentation Abstracts: Descriptions of all oral presentations, covering new research, diagnostics, materials innovations and clinical approaches.
Location & Contact Info: Venue address and contact details for the conference chair.
Use this document to plan your time, identify key sessions, and explore research areas of interest.
Agenda
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Time | Event | Presenter | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Registration and light breakfast | -- | -- |
9:00 a.m. - 9:10 a.m. | Welcome and Conference Overview | Matt Libera | Stevens Institute of Technology |
SESSION 1: Clinical & Patient Perspectives
Moderator: Matt Libera, Stevens Institute of Technology
Time | Title | Presenter(s) | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
9:10 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. | The pathology of device-associated infection in plastic and reconstructive surgery | Peter Taub, MD | Mt. Sinai Health System |
9:45 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. | Case studies of infection associated with soft-tissue reconstruction | Anna Kaltsas, MD | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |
10:20 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. | Break and Poster Viewing | -- | -- |
10:50 a.m. - 11:25 a.m. | Patients with Biofilm Infections: Big Decisions, Imperfect Data | Andy Miller, MD | Hospital for Special Surgery |
11:25 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Interactive discussion: Living with a device-associated infection | Patient A w/ Drs. Miller and Kaltsas | -- |
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. | Lunch | -- | -- |
SESSION 2: Interventions
Moderator: Greg Caputo, Rowan University
Time | Title | Presenter(s) | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. | The journey from concept to patient for a commercially available antibacterial surface for permanent implants | Jordan Katz Gene Kulesha | Orthobond Onkos Surgical |
1:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | Computational approaches to identify next-gen antimicrobials | Shikha Nangia | Syracuse University |
2:00 p.m. - 2:05 p.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Novel Bioactive Glass S53P4 cream and its eluate: A promising strategy against Staphylococcus aureus biofilm and bone infection | Deeksha Rajkumar | Amsterdam UMC |
2:05 p.m. - 2:10 p.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Polymyxin B Peptide Hydrogel Coating: A Novel Approach to Prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia | Milan Wouters | University of Antwerp |
2:10 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Bioinspired fouling control with mucin-coated active topography | Zehui Han | Syracuse University |
2:15 p.m. - 2:20 p.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Quantitative diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection via time-gated single-photon Raman spectroscopy | Yehong Li | Stevens Institute of Technology |
2:20 p.m. - 2:25 p.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Synthesis and Characterization of Antimicrobial Elastomeric Material | Karishni Veerabahu Pillai | Cornell University |
2:25 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Structure-Property Relationships and Antimicrobial Activity of Synthetic Peptide-Mimetic Polyurethanes | Zixi Chen | Northeastern University |
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Conference Photo & Poster Session 1 | -- | -- |
SESSION 3: Broader Perspectives
Moderator: Steve Nicoli, City College of New York
Time | Title | Presenter(s) | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Using Patient-Level Infection Data to Improve Device Design | Joan Robinson | City College of New York |
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Panel Discussion: Why aren't we moving forward faster? | TBD | TBD |
6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | Hudson River Dinner Cruise | -- | -- |
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Time | Event | Presenter | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
8:15 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Registration and light breakfast | -- | -- |
SESSION 4: Biofilm Control 1
Moderator: Dacheng Ren, Syracuse University
Time | Title | Presenter(s) | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. | Modulating innate immunity to combat Staphylococcus aureus biofilm infection | Tammy Kielian | University of Nebraska Medical Center |
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Biofilm Dispersion and its Role in Infection Control | David Davies | Binghamton University |
10:00 a.m. - 10:05 a.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Decoupling Physicochemical and Chemical Interactions of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using Nanoculture Systems | Huda Usman | Carnegie Mellon University |
10:05 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Impact of attachment to a surface on macrophage engulfment of nosocomial pathogens: insights into immune evasion mechanisms | Bharti Sharma | Binghamton University |
10:10 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. | Rapid-Fire Talk: Characterizing the molecular details underlying biomaterial-associated infections | Laure van Hofwegen | Amsterdam UMC |
10:15 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. | Poster Session 2 | -- | -- |
SESSION 5: Biofilm Control 2
Moderator: Karin Sauer, Binghamton University
Time | Title | Presenter(s) | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Coacervate Dense Phase Displaces Surface-Established Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms | Abraham Joy | Northeastern University |
11:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. | Viscoelastic Failure Triggers Bacterial Adaptivity to Environmental Stresses | Brandon Peterson | University Medical Center Groningen |
11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Cyclic strain loading of resin composites triggered the pathogenicity of Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis | Santiago Orrego | Temple University |
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. | Lunch | -- | -- |
SESSION 6: Translation
Moderator: Julie Stenken, University of Arkansas
Time | Title | Presenter(s) | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Navigating the interconnected path of model design, standard test method validation, and regulatory decision making | Darla Goeres | Montana State CBE |
1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. | Galleria mellonella larvae: a promising animal model to study biofilm maturation in orthopaedic infections | Martijn Riool | University Medical Centre Regensburg |
2:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. | Developing a next generation of resorbable scaffolds for tissue engineering | Hongjun Wang | Stevens Institute of Technology |
2:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Sustained Dual-Antibiotic Polymer Implant for Infection Prevention – in vivo Evaluation | Mohammed Labib | NovaFlux |
2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. | Designing a high-throughput platform for assessing microbial dynamics in native environments | Tagbo Niepa | Carnegie Mellon University |
2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Break | -- | -- |
SESSION 7: Concluding Discussion
Moderator: Hongjun Wang, Stevens Institute of Technology
Time | Title | Presenter(s) | Affliation |
|---|---|---|---|
3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. | Engineering Opportunities to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance | Anita Shukla | Brown University |
3:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Conference Closure | Matt Libera | Stevens Institute of Technology |