Keynote Speakers

Dr. Sarah Boyle is an Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellow at the Centre for Cancer Biology, Adelaide University, South Australia. Leading the Cancer Matrix and Mechanics Group in the Tumour Microenvironment Laboratory, Sarah’s research focusses on the mechanisms and interplay between mechanical force, mechanotransduction, and various aspects of the tumour microenvironment in progression and metastasis of breast and other cancers. She has established an emerging leadership profile in the fields of cell, cancer, and mechano biology, evidenced by publications in multi-disciplinary journals including Nature Cell Biology, Science Advances, Journal of Cell Science, Advanced Science, and Oncogene, and has previously held fellowships from the Royal Adelaide Hospital Research Committee and Australian Breast Cancer Research through The Hospital Research Foundation Group.

Amy Kyungwon Han is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University. She was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford and received a Ph.D. and M.S. from Stanford and a B.S. from Georgia Tech. Her research includes soft actuators, sensors, medical robotics, haptics, and manipulation. Prof. Han’s awards include the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific, 50 Women in Robotics, Rising Star of RoboSoft, ICRA New Generation Star, APBEC Young Scholar Award, and Best RA-L Paper Award. She serves as associate vice president of Technical Activities Board and as co-chair of Technical Committee on Haptics within IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.

Professor Linda J. Kenney is the President of Mechanobiologics, Inc., Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the National Dental Centre Singapore.

She is a global scientific leader in Microbiology, Biophysics and Mechanobiology with over 150 publications & multiple patents. A proven mentor and leader, she has trained 45+ PhDs and post-doctoral fellows now in global academic, government, and industry leadership. She was previously the Tom and Kaye Arnold Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Texas and is an AAAS Fellow and a member of the American Academy of Microbiology.

Director of the Cardiovascular Ageing and Longevity program at National Heart Centre Singapore; Clinician Scientist and Senior Consultant at NHCS. Leadership Council member at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) for Geriatric Cardiology; Past recipient of the emerging leader program and current Advisor at World Heart Federation.

Dr. Lei Li is an Assistant Professor of National University of Singapore (NUS). Previously, she was a Lecturer at University of Southampton and a Postdoc at University of Oxford. She serves as President of Women in MICCAI (WiM) and Area Chair of MICCAI 2024-2026. She is also the Guest Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (TMI) and Editorial Board Member of Information Fusion. Her research interest is AI for healthcare, specifically focusing on cardiac digital twins, medical imaging, and multi-modal AI.

Professor Melissa Knothe Tate is a global thought leader in cross-disciplinary and healthcare innovation for One Health, i.e. an integrated, collaborative approach that recognizes the intrinsic connection between the health of humans, animals, plants, and our shared ecosystems. Her convergent R&D program applies fundamental laws of mechanics applied to bio-logical/medical systems to elucidate, emulate and manufacture materials and devices (i.a. implants, wearables, theranostics) with emergent and smart properties. Such convergent approaches pave new paths of innovation and discovery, to improve the lives of our worlds’ inhabitants, from the worlds of our bone and joints and bodies to the interacting ecosystems of our planet.

Zong-Ming Li, PhD, is currently the William and Sylvia Rubin Chair of Orthopedic Research and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. With more than 35 years of research in musculoskeletal biomechanics, Dr. Li’s work has advanced scientific understanding and informed clinical applications that improve patient outcomes. Dr. Li is recognized as a Fellow of several science/engineering and medical organizations, including American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Society of Biomechanics (ASB), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Academy of Artificial Intelligence Sciences (AAIS), International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (ICORS), International Society of Biomechanics (ISB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS). Dr. Li is the recipient of the ASME Savio L-Y. Woo Translational Biomechanics Medal. 

Yu Jun Tan (National University of Singapore, NUS) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where she is a PI at both the NUS Centre for Additive Manufacturing (AM.NUS) and the Advanced Robotics Centre (ARC).

Dr. Tan’s research integrates materials science, mechanics, and bioengineering to develop next-generation bio-derived, bioinspired and biohybrid materials for soft robotics and biomedical devices. Her group investigates the processing, deformation, and functional behaviors of soft materials (such as bio-based polymers, gels, and living tissues) with particular emphasis on self-healing, electro-mechanical behaviours, and large-deformation mechanics. By linking fundamental mechanics with sustainable design, her work advances the creation of adaptive, self-powered, and eco-responsible soft machines.

She has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in top-tier journals, including Nature Materials, Nature Electronics, Nature Communications, Science Robotics, Science Advances, and Advanced Materials. Her publications have been featured on journal covers and highlighted in scientific media and documentaries.

Prof Teoh is the Director and Distinguished Senior Yelu/Changjiang Chair Professor, Center for Advanced Medical Engineering (CAME) at the College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, People’s Republic of China. He majored in Materials Engineering (B Eng with First Class Honors and PhD at Monash University in 1978 and 1982 respectively). He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore.

Prof Teoh spent 30 yrs (1982-2012) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Co-Chaired the Graduate Program in BioEngineering (GPBE). He also Chaired the school of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (SCBE) with a joint Professorship at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKC Med) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), from 2012-2021. He was awarded the prestigious NTU President’s Chair Award for Educational Leadership and for his outstanding research and entrepreneurship. He is also the Senior Mentor to the clinical scientists at the National Dental Centre of Singapore for the last 10 years. 

Prof Teoh is a pioneer in 3D printing for implants. To date, his spin-off company, Osteopore International (IPO Australia ASX), has implanted more than 150,000 scaffolds worldwide. His pioneering work has earned him the prestigious “Golden Innovation Award” from the Far Eastern Economic Review (2004) and the “Notable Engineering Achievement Award” from the Institute of Engineers, Singapore. His team also received the “2018 Patent Excellence Award” from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. Currently, he is focusing on biomaterials, piezoelectric bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine with research ranging from synthetic bones, blood vessels and skin, bioreactors, fish collagen, decellularized organs.

Raye Yeow received his PhD in Bioengineering (NUS) in 2010, and his post-doctoral training in BioRobotics (Harvard University) from 2010-2012. He is a Dean’s Chair Professor and Deputy Head (Outreach & Industry) with the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Advanced Robotics Center, NUS, and the President of the Biomedical Engineering Society (Singapore). He was the Program Lead for the Soft and Hybrid Robotics Program under the National Robotics Programme Office in Singapore. He was a Visiting Professor at Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2023. His research group specializes in soft robotics, with focus on fundamental mechanisms and building market-ready systems. He has published >200 journal and conference papers, with  >40 research and innovation awards, and co-founded 6 soft robotics/AI startups that are translating his technologies into the healthcare, food assembly, logistics and maritime sectors.