KEYNOTE LECTURERS
Dariusz Dobrowolski, MD, PhD
Silesian Park of Medical Technology
Kardio-Med Silesia
Ophthalmologist, doctor of medicine. He has completed a number of internships abroad, including in Pavia, at the University of Pisa, among others. He works as an assistant professor at the Department of Ophthalmology, Katowice Medical University of Silesia, headed by Edward Wylęgała. In addition, since 2009 he has been head of the ophthalmology department at the Barbara’s Provincial Specialist Hospital No 5 in Sosnowiec.
In his research and clinical work, he mainly specializes in the treatment of ocular surface disease, tissue bioengineering, imaging techniques in ophthalmology (including OCT) and ophthalmic transplantology (corneal transplantation). He has published his work in national and international journals, including The Ocular Surface, Acta Ophthalmologica Polonica, Experimental Eye Research, Acta Ophthalmologica, Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology and Current Eye Research.
He is a member of the Polish Ophthalmological Society (Silesian Branch), the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), the European Vitreo-Retinal Society (EVRS) and the European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER), among others.
Katarzyna Doroszkiewicz BEng., MSc
Medical Device Certification Specialist
TUV NORD Poland
Medical Device Certification Specialist at the first Polish Notified Body designated to assess compliance with the new Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745. Her responsibilities include evaluating applications from medical device manufacturers, planning and overseeing the certification process. Her professional focus lies in the realm of Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and AI-driven active medical devices.
Biomedical Engineer graduate of The Silesian University of Technology and Bialystok University of Technology, where she gained knowledge in the field of biomedical signal and imagine processing, among others.
Member of the working group for medical devices of the GCPpl Association, which deals with disseminating knowledge in the field of clinical trials of medical devices.
Maciej Gawlikowski, MD, PhD
Institute of Heart Prostheses
Maciej Gawlikowski, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Director for Scientific Affairs at the Institute of Heart Prostheses. Researcher, biomedical engineer and clinical specialist in mechanical circulatory support. For 22 years he has been involved in the development of heart prostheses, artificial valves, extracorporeal blood circulation systems, ECMO systems and biocompatibility and haemocompatibility studies. He has co-authored original methods for assessing the thrombogenicity of biomaterials and medical devices, measuring intracardiac flows and detecting micro-embolisation in flowing blood. He has conducted research on centrifugal blood pumps for adult patients, pulsatile blood pumps for children, artificial valves and advanced biomaterials for use in cardiac and vascular surgery. Co-inventor of clinically applied telemedicine solutions related to remote monitoring of cardiac patients. Completed 16 research projects, 6 as principal investigator. Co-author of 49 JCR listed publications and 5 patents in the field of medical instrumentation.
Joanna Jaworska, PhD
The Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials (CMPW)
Polish Academy of Sciences
Researcher at the Center of Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze since 2004. She obtained her PhD at the Jagiellonian University in 2011. She focuses on the development and characterization of biodegradable, polymeric materials for biomedical purposes, especially drug delivery systems. Currently, she works on drug-eluting nonwoven materials for oncology, where she uses bioresorbable platform to regulate the drug release rate. She is involved in the degradation and drug release study.
She is a co-author of 40 impact factor journal papers and 3 patents. She has realized over 10 research projects as a co-investigator.
Anita Kajzer, BEng, PhD
Silesian University of Technology
Anita Kajzer, BEng, PhD, DSc, scientist, lecturer at the Department of Biomaterials and Medical Device Engineering, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology. Her scientific interests focus on issues related to biomaterials and surface engineering, in particular in shaping the properties of metal biomaterials and surface modification of implants used in thoracic surgery. She is author and co-author of over 137 scientific publications, monographs, monograph chapters and conference materials, as well as 2 patents. Moreover she has been involved in many scientific and research projects dedicated to Surface funcionalization of orthopedic and cardiological implants.
Edyta Kawlewska, BEng, PhD
Silesian University of Technology
Edyta Kawlewska, BEng, PhD, scientist, lecturer in the Department of Biomechatronics at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering. Specialist in preoperative virtual planning of surgeries and application of 3D scanning in biomedicine. She was involved in a few national research projects on biomechanics and engineering support for medicine. Co-author of over 50 scientific publications, monographs, chapters of monographs and conference materials. Currently involved in research on the biomechanics, morphological analysis and individual preoperative planning of maxillofacial surgeries as well as the engineering support for cleft palate treatment.
Zuzanna Miodońska, BEng, PhD
Silesian University of Technology
Speech scientist and machine learning engineer. Particularly interested in creating solutions and tools for computer-aided speech diagnosis and therapy. Co-originator and co-creator of the free online platform for aphasia rehabilitation, Afast! Say it”. She completed a research internship at the Institute of Linguistics at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, where she participated in research on the implementation of consonant groups and pronunciation self-correction mechanisms in young children. Laureate of the START 2023 Program of the Foundation for Polish Science for interdisciplinary works on acoustic indicators of speech disorders in children with an additional Barbara Skarga Scholarship for research crossing the boundaries between various fields of science and opening new research perspectives. Author of peer-reviewed publications and research projects. Speaker at national and international conferences on speech science and technology. Member of International Speech Communication Association.
Natalia Moćko, PhD
University of Silesia in Katowice
Natalia Moćko, PhD – linguist, speech-language pathologist specializing in neurological and audiological aspects of speech diagnosis and therapy. Practitioner and academic lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia in Katowice. She has been diagnosing and treating infants, children, and adults with linguistic and situational communication difficulties and visual and auditory function disorders for over ten years. She won the national Paweł Stępka Award granted by the National Broadcasting Council and the University of Warsaw for the best doctoral dissertation in the media field. She also won the 7th edition of the University of Silesia Rector’s Honors Competition for doctoral students’ scientific and popular science achievements. Natalia Moćko is the author and co-author of many publications, especially in speech therapy, lapsology, discourse linguistics, and biomedical engineering. In her research and speech therapy practice, she focuses on issues related to auditory functions, neurodevelopmental aspects, and their impact on language. She has worked with Northern England educational institutions for over eight years. She has been conducting joint research activities with the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology for three years. Her scientific interests include neuro- and speech-language therapy, language acquisition, language disorders, and language and communication skills.
Rafał Obuchowicz, MD, PhD
Radiology Department of the University Hospital
Rafał Obuchowicz, currently works at the Radiology Department of the University Hospital. He is the head of Krakow Imaging Diagnostics in the Luxmed Group. His professional interests focus on focal lesion detection and shape detection in a variety of radiological techniques, using both classical methods and deep machine learning algorithms. The result of his work in this field is an ongoing NCBiR project: entitled “XR-AI Diagnostic viewer for radiology with computer-aided use of artificial intelligence”, of which he is the principal investigator and medical team leader. His professional interest in image quality analysis of MR and X-ray techniques resulted in a habilitation thesis entitled “Analysis and parameterisation of information in selected radiological diagnostic techniques”. His hobbies include environmental psychology, the history, and ecology of urbanisation.
Grzegorz Siwiec
Gabos Software sp. z o.o.
Involved in the medical market since 1991. He is the founder and long-serving President of Gabos Software Sp. z o.o., which implements IT solutions for the healthcare. He has an extensive track record in the field of proprietary design and successful implementation of various information systems in the field of medicine. He is a founding member of the Association of Medical Software Developers and has served as its long-time President and board member. His knowledge and achievements are utilized in the design of more efficient institutional, organizational, procedural, and technological activities in the healthcare sector.
Michael Skipper Andersen, PhD
Aalborg University
Dr. Michael Skipper Andersen received his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering with specialisation in Intelligent Autonomous Systems from the Aalborg University in 2004. In 2009, he obtained his PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aalborg University, Denmark. Following a short period as Software Engineer in the AnyBody Technology, Aalborg, Denmark, he was employed as first as Assistant Professor from 2009–2012, then as Associate Professor (2012 – 2022) and now as Full Professor of Orthopedic Engineering (2022) at the Department of Materials and Production, Aalborg University, Denmark, with all positions being associated with the Biomechanical Research Group. His research is in the multidisciplinary area between engineering and health science, where he develops and apply engineering principles to study health-related issues, primarily in orthopaedics with the ultimate goal to improve patient treatment. He has received several awards for his research and has published more than 70 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and 130 conference abstracts and proceedings.
Paweł Wiśniewski, PhD
CEO, INAGEN
Dr Paweł Wiśniewski has over 12 years of experience in development and implementation of biotechnology business strategies, which he has gained by holding top management positions in multiple companies within new technologies, biotech and healthcare sectors. He is also an author and co-author of numerous scientific papers, recognised at the international level.
Dr Wiśniewski is a founder and CEO of Instytut Analiz Genetycznych sp. z o.o. – INAGEN, a Poland-based company providing genetic profiling solutions to professional sports entities and individual athletes. He also holds a position of Vice-President of the Management Board of 4Cell Therapies S.A., a biotechnological company developing cell therapies for treatment of haematological and solid malignancies in Poland.
At the same time, Dr Wiśniewski provides advisory services to the investors and biotechnological companies world-wide and holds a position of Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Pure Biologics S.A., a publicly listed biotechnological company and a member of the Supervisory Board at Orphinic Scientific S.A., a holding company investing in and developing novel drugs and medical devices in Europe and US.
Piotr Wodarski, BEng, PhD
Silesian University of Technology
Scientist, lecturer, instructor, designer of modern electronic device solutions. A graduate of Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Telecommunications of the Silesian University of Technology, graduated with distinction at every stage and gained valuable knowledge in the fields of designing and programming of microprocessor systems. PhD thesis defended with honors in the discipline of Mechanics (Biomechanics) at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology, presenting a modern approach to diagnostic and therapeutic systems using Virtual Reality Technology. Former chairman of VRTechnology LLC, main goal of which was to implement solutions using spatial projection and motion analysis systems for military applications.
Currently, he is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomechatronics at Faculty of Biomedical Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology and Lider of the electronic device programming and signal processing team. Passionate about modern technical solutions supporting the functioning of people in society. An expert in the field of implementation and use of Virtual Reality Technology and Augmented Reality in clinical practice. Implemented 37 research projects, reviewed scientific articles for Polish and international journals, co-author of 164 scientific publications, 11 patent solutions and industrial designs. In his practice, he combines professional specialization with creative activities, developing individual and collective potential of project teams.
