IIS Aragón researcher Pedro Baptista, new secretary general of the European Society of Artificial Organs

The scientist, a specialist in liver bioengineering, is also vice president of the Regenerative Hepatology Consortium, within the European Association for the Study of the Liver

Peter the Baptist, researcher ARAID in the 'Translational research in digestive pathology' group at the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), he has just been elected secretary general of the European Association for Artificial Organs (ESAO, in English).

Although it began its activity more than 50 years ago, this European society was formally founded in Switzerland in 1974 to promote and disseminate the advances made in the field of artificial organs and has more than 400 members around the world. Its objectives include developing and coordinating research in Europe on organ support, replacement and regeneration based on artificial organs, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine; promote projects and promote young scientists; and influence the ethical, regulatory guidelines and research policy of the European Union on artificial organ support.

Baptista, for whom this election represents “enormous pride”, has belonged to this association since 2015, which also includes, among others, the creators and promoters of dialysis, artificial hearts and cardiac pumps. The IIS Aragón researcher, who is also vice president of the Regenerative Hepatology Consortium within the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), highlights the importance of the ESAO “opening its doors to profiles that work in bioengineering.” Recently, Baptista has been part of an international group of scientists that has managed to expand adult liver stem cells on a large scale, which will make it possible to treat patients with liver diseases and create bioengineered organs on demand in the future with their own cells. You can see the full news here