Papers from the 1^st International Conference on Chemistry for Beauty and Health (Beauty-Torun’2018)

The first International Conference on Chemistry for Beauty and Health (www.beauty-torun.umk.pl) was held on 13–16 June 2018 in the city of Toruń at Nicolaus Copernicus University. This IUPAC endorsed conference was organized by research scientists of the Department of Chemistry of Biomaterials and Cosmetics, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, with the support of the European Polymer Federation (EPF) and the Polish Society for Biomaterials (PSB). The letter from IUPAC was read by Dr. Lidija Siller from Newcastle University, UK.

The conference was organized in the beautiful city of Toruń, which is also called the “Gothic pearl” since its Old Town, listed among the UNESCO World Heritage sites, is rich in precious medieval monuments. The natural beauty of Toruń corresponded well with the name of the conference, which was focused on chemistry for beauty and health.

The conference brought together academics and industrial experts in the field to present and discuss innovation in chemistry related to wellbeing, beauty and health. English was the official language of the conference.

The program was focused on the following topics:

1. Biomaterials

2. Cosmetic chemistry

3. Polymers and biopolymers for beauty and health

4. Pharmaceutical chemistry

5. Food chemistry

6. Applied chemistry

The conference attracted nearly 90 participants from 12 countries. There were three Plenary Lectures delivered by 3 keynote speakers and 6 invited talks. Sixteen oral communications were given and 46 posters were presented during 3 poster sessions.

The Session for Young Scientists was held during the last day of the Conference.

The Plenary lecturers were given by:

1. Prof. Diego Mantovani, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada. The Lecture was entitled “3D triple cell culture in bioreactors from collagen gel scaffolds: innovation in cosmetics, advanced in vitro models and regenerative medicine”.

2. Prof. Mauro Alini from AO, Davos, Switzerland, whose Lecture was entitled “Hyaluronan hydrogel platform for musculoskeletal regeneration”.

3. Prof. Fernando Monteiro from University of Porto, Portugal. The Lecture was entitled “Mimicking the extracellular matrix of bone through composite scaffolds for bone regeneration and drug releasing”.

Invited speakers

1. Leszek Kubisz from Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poland. The title of the talk was “Application of in vivo electric impedance measurement in human skin assessment”.

2. Elżbieta Pamula from AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland. The title of the talk was “Engineering stimuli responsive nano- and microcarriers to enhance efficacy of the drug therapies”.

3. Maria Letizia Focarete from Department of Chemistry ‘G. Ciamician’, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. The title of the talk was “Gelatin-based nanofibrous electrospun scaffolds with potentialities in health and cosmetics”.

4. José Miguel Martín Martínez from Adhesion and Adhesion Laboratory. University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain. The title of the talk was “Improved adhesion of polydimethylsiloxane (silicone) to acrylic adhesive tape for non-permanent bond of ear correctors”.

5. Bartosz Tylkowski from Chemistry Technology Centre of Catalonia, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The title of the talk was “Encapsulation technology – shedding light on new benefits”.

6. Vladimir Sedlarik from Centre of Polymer Systems, University Institute, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Zlin, Czech Republic. The title of the talk was “Immobilization of Specific Bioactive Substances in Functionalized Biodegradable Polymer Matrices”.

This was the first conference on Chemistry for Beauty and Health at an international level organized in Poland. The main industrial partner for this conference was POLPHARMA, the largest Polish manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and a leader of the Polish pharmaceutical market.

The Polish journal Polimery founded the prize for the best presentation regarding polymer science.

The Conference was rich in social events, which helped in informal discussion and encourages start-up collaboration. After the Welcome reception at the Academic Center for Culture and Arts Od Nowa club it was a blues concert by Tortilla band. A guided tour around Torun with professional guide was organised, together with Visit to the Museum of Toruń Gingerbread.

Participants visited the Centre for Astronomy at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and after guided tour around the centre a barbecue was organized in the garden of the Centre for Astronomy with traditional Polish food. Farewell Conference Dinner with regional food and beer was organized at Jan Olbracht Old Town Brewery in Torun.

Pure and Applied Chemistry presents selected peer-reviewed contributions from the 1^st International Conference on Chemistry for Beauty and Health (Beauty-Torun’2018) in one issue. These papers give a flavor of the high quality research presented during the conference and convey the latest developments at the interface of chemistry and beauty and health.

I would like to extend sincere thanks to the Local Organizing Committee for their immense help, the Scientific Committee, Fabienne Mayers (IUPAC), and Hugh Burrows (Pure and Applied Chemistry) for their valuable help at various stages of the organization and publication of the special issues.