The Horizon Europe project MACRAMÉ is wrapping up by the end of May 2026.
Don’t miss the opportunity to discover the final results and key outcomes.
*** ONLINE ***
6. May 2026
10:00 – 15:15 CEST
(the dial-in link will be sent automatically to all registered participants)
The MACRAMÉ experts are delighted to share their achievements with experts working at the intersection of materials innovation and regulatory compliance. The project has advanced characterisation methodologies to assess and predict the health and environmental risks of advanced materials.
MACRAMÉ developed and demonstrated novel methodologies and advanced their harmonisation & standardisation. The project focussed on three MACRAMÉ Material Families of inhalable carbon-based AdMas of various morphologies and dimensions beyond spherical particles. It includes unsolved detection and characterisation issues, especially in complex media.
09:45 – 10:00
Welcome and dial-in
10:00 – 10:30
Introduction to MACRAMÉ
Steffi Friedrichs (AIST)
Dr Steffi Friedrichs, Founder & Director of AcumenIST SRL, has been a leading expert, policy advisor and business representative for emerging technological innovation for over 20 years. Steffi made a name for herself as the founder and Director-General of the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) group, where she established novel, collaborative approaches to the political representation of technology-based companies. Having thus initiated numerous large-scale public-private collaborations and created channels for industries’ contributions to both international and national regulatory processes, Steffi subsequently worked for the OECD, where she developed its definition, indicators and impact assessment of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other converging technologies, and led two international technology policy workshops on genome editing. Wishing to support the advancement of transparent, science-based policy-making, Steffi gathered a strong track record in the establishment, development and representation of technology-based companies, and created and ran participatory technology assessment workshops. She initiated several outreach and communication initiatives to foster the public understanding of novel technologies. She was a Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Micro- & Nanotechnology Community (CMNC), Director of the Master’s Programme in Micro- and Nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge, and Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry and Solid State Chemistry at the University of Oxford.
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Klaus Weltring (BioMS)
Dr. Klaus-Michael Weltring is a molecular biologist by training with a PhD and a Habilitation degree from the University of Münster. From 2001 – 2020 he was the managing director of bioanalytik-muenster, a local network of researchers from different disciplines and SMEs, responsible for the development of the Münster region into a leading nanobioanalytic location at the European level.
Between 2003 and 2008 he was the deputy-coordinator of the Nano2Life Network of Excellence and leader of the “ELSA” Board in this network. He co-managed the Nanomedicine Round Table and the EuroNanoBio projects and participated in the NANOMED2020 project (FP7 CSA projects). From 2009 to 2019 he was a member of the Executive Board of the ETP Nanomedicine leading the ELSA Advisory Group of this platform. Since its foundation in March 2015 until end of 2022 he was the chair of the German platform NanoBioMedicine.
In 2017 he was a member of the team defining the ESTHER (Emerging Smart Technologies for Health Care) concept initiated by the European Commission and MedTech Europe which laid the ground for the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IHI). In Horizon 2020 he participated in the EU-project REFINE and was the external ethical advisor of the EU-projects Training 4CRW and BIORIMA. Currently he is a partner in the Horizon Europe Project MACRAMÉ focussing on advanced characterisation methodologies to assess and predict the health and environmental risks of Advanced Materials.
10:30 – 10:45
Sampling of Advanced Material along their lifecycle
Blanca Suarez-Merino (TEMASOL)
Dr Suarez-Merino (DPhil Oxford Biochemistry) is the Regulatory Affairs Director at the Nanotechnology Industries Association and Cofounder of TEMAS Solutions GmbH. Dr Suarez-Merino is Vice Chair of the BIAC Nanotechnology Committee at the OECD contributing to several groups under the OECD WPMN including the Steering Group on Advanced Materials and the Safe Innovation Approach. She also contributes to the Nanomaterial Expert Group under ECHA and the EFSA's Stakeholder Discussion Group on Emerging Risks (StadDG-ER). She is also a National Expert under the Nanotechnologies Standardisation Group (SNV) and routinely contributes to work under CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies, leading the SSbD standard. Dr Suarez-Merino is also a member of the Swiss National Platform on the safe handling of synthetic nanomaterials and co-authored the update of the Precautionary Matrix for Nanomaterials, and contributed to different testing guidelines for safety assessment of nanomaterials, the latest one being the adaptation of OECD TG 442D. She has been very active in European Projects focusing on Regulatory research and nanomaterials for several years.
10:45 – 11:30
Methodological approaches for the indentification, physico-chemical characterisation and quantification of advanced materials in complex matrices
BAuA and EMPA
to be added
11:30 – 12:45
Adaption of existing Standard Guidelines and Development of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for Hazard Characterisation of Advanced Materials in Complex Matrices
Alberto Katsumiti (GAIKER)
Dr. Alberto Katsumiti is a researcher at the GAIKER Technology Centre. He has 20 years of experience in ecotoxicology and human health studies, and 14 years of experience in nanotoxicology. He holds a BSc in Biology, an MSc in Ecology and Conservation, a second MSc, and a PhD in Environmental Contamination and Environmental Toxicology. His research has focused on studying the mechanisms of toxicity of environmental pollutants—especially emerging contaminants (e.g., nanomaterials, advanced materials, microplastics)—on human health and the environment, using alternative methods and in vitro tools. He has also been actively involved in developing New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for human and environmental hazard assessment. Dr. Katsumiti is a member of EU-NETVAL (the European Union Network of Laboratories for the Validation of Alternative Methods) and serves as GAIKER’s representative among EFSA Article 36 competent organizations.
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Iseult Lynch (UoB)
Iseult Lynch is an Irish chemist and Professor of Enivornmental Nanoscience at the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. Her research focuses on the safety of nanoparticles in the environment and their interactions with biological entities.
Martin Wiemann (IBE)
Martin Wiemann (born 1960) studied biology and obtained his PhD in protozoology in 1990 at the University of Münster in Germany. Following postdoctoral studies in Ulm, San Diego, Münster and Essen, he became an assistant professor of human physiology at the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2000. Since 2007, he has been the CEO and Scientific Advisor of the IBE R&D Institute for Lung Health gGmbH, which develops cell-based in vitro assays to determine particle toxicity in the lung.
Tina Bürki (EMPA)
Tina Buerki-Thurnherr received a PhD in Biology from ETH Zurich in 2006 and continued her scientific career at Empa, where she currently leads the Particles@Barriers group (eq. Asst. Prof.) and serves as Deputy Head of the Nanomaterials in Health Lab. A central aim of her group is to systematically investigate how material properties influence particle–cell and tissue responses, with a particular emphasis on elucidating mechanisms of toxicity at biobarriers (placenta, lung, GI tract and skin) and beyond. She develops and applies advanced human in vitro and ex vivo models including primary cells, iPSCs, co-culture transfer systems, 3D microtissues, placental perfusion, and placenta–embryo-on-a-chip to generate human-relevant data. This work provides critical foundations for the safe design of nanomaterials, the development of innovative particle-based therapeutic strategies, and the protection of vulnerable populations. Dr. Bürki has published 70 peer reviewed papers, has participated in over 13 research projects and is member of the European Placenta Group (EPG) and EPG council, International Federation of Placenta Association, BioNanoNet, European Technology Platform Nanomedicine, Competence Center TEDD and the EU Nanosafety and ExpoHealthNet Cluster.
Aline Chary (LIST)
to be added
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Rob Vandebriel (RIVM)
12:45 – 13:15
Lunch
13:15 – 13:55
Risk Assessment
Jimeng Wu (EMPA)
Jimeng Wu is a PhD researcher at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, specializing in quantitative risk assessment. Her research focuses on developing integrative approaches that combine experimental and computational methods to improve the understanding and prediction of nanoparticle behavior in biological systems. Situated within the framework of Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD), her work addresses the assessment of advanced materials.
A central aspect of her research is the advancement of in vitro to in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) methodologies, which aim to translate results from cell-based assays into predictions relevant to human exposure and health risk assessment. Her work further encompasses physiologically based kinetic modeling, uncertainty analysis, and the integration of in vitro, computational, and mechanistic approaches within next-generation risk assessment frameworks. Through this work, she contributes to the development of scientifically robust and animal-free strategies for evaluating the safety of innovative materials and supporting their design.
Luis Mauricio Ortiz-Galvez (EMPA)
Luis Mauricio Ortiz-Galvez (he/him) received a BSc. in Nanotechnology and Molecular Engineering (2014-2018), from Univerisdad de las Américas Puebla, in Mexico, and an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's Degree in Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (2020-2022), from the University of the Basque Country, in Spain. Now, he is doing his PhD at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology - Empa, St. Gallen, as part of the Environmental System Units department of ETH Zürich. His research focuses on the release of engineered nanomaterials and advanced materials and their prospective environmental impact, by using Material Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment, Scenario Formation, and other methods. He is also participating in the MACRAMÉ project, and other international initiatives, such as the International Network Initiative on Safe and Sustainable Nanotechnologies (INISS-nano). His professional interests are environmental risk and sustainability assessment (including circular economy), science and risk communication to the public, risk governance, stakeholder engagement, international collaboration, science diplomacy, ethics in research, and transdisciplinary studies in the context of materials' and commercialized products' design methodologies.
Email address: luism.ortizgalvez@empa.ch
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5909-3235
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luismauricioortizgalvez/
13:55 – 14:25
Assessment of advanced materials in complex product and biological matrices at different lifecycle stages require rethinking of data-reporting guidelines and harmonised, FAIR data formats
Thomas Exner (7P9)
Dr. Thomas Exner (M) is a founding partner and Chief Scientific Officer of the Slovenian-based SME Seven Past Nine d.o.o. Dr. Exner studied chemistry and did his PhD at the Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany) followed by a postdoc at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. After 12 years of independent academic research (University of Konstanz and University of Tübingen), he joined Edelweiss Connect in 2015 and finally moved on to Seven Past Nine in 2021. There, he is responsible for the scientific planning, execution, supervision and coordination of different projects in the area of safety and sustainability of advanced materials and the use of digital approaches therein.
14:25 – 15:00
Translation into Standards and OECD Documents
BAuA, RIVM AIST
To be added
15:00 – 15:15
Closing of the event
Steffi Friedrichs (AIST)
Dr Steffi Friedrichs, Founder & Director of AcumenIST SRL, has been a leading expert, policy advisor and business representative for emerging technological innovation for over 20 years. Steffi made a name for herself as the founder and Director-General of the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) group, where she established novel, collaborative approaches to the political representation of technology-based companies. Having thus initiated numerous large-scale public-private collaborations and created channels for industries’ contributions to both international and national regulatory processes, Steffi subsequently worked for the OECD, where she developed its definition, indicators and impact assessment of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other converging technologies, and led two international technology policy workshops on genome editing. Wishing to support the advancement of transparent, science-based policy-making, Steffi gathered a strong track record in the establishment, development and representation of technology-based companies, and created and ran participatory technology assessment workshops. She initiated several outreach and communication initiatives to foster the public understanding of novel technologies. She was a Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Micro- & Nanotechnology Community (CMNC), Director of the Master’s Programme in Micro- and Nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge, and Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry and Solid State Chemistry at the University of Oxford.
