Elena Calciolari is a lead member of the NextGen Team at the Osteology Foundation. She works between Parma and London, and has recently combined her demanding international career with everyday life as a mother. How does the next generation view the future of regenerative dentistry? Find out more in this interview, courtesy of PIP magazine, translated from German.

You work between the University of Parma and Queen Mary University London, head the Osteology Foundation's NextGen and you are also a mother. Do you have the support of a traditional Italian extended family, or how do you manage to juggle everything?

It's indeed not easy to juggle everything, but I try as best I can to organise and plan my commitments in advance, and I have a shared calendar with my husband where we try to match our professional commitments. Without the support of my family, however, it would be impossible to carry out my academic work, my work as an international speaker and my involvement in scientific societies to this extent. Fortunately, I have a perfect support system behind me, especially with my husband and grandparents, which allows me to continue my most important professional commitments with such dedication. Whenever possible, I try to combine business with pleasure and take my husband – who is also a colleague – and my daughter with me. It is important to me that my daughter grows up seeing that her mother is also committed and fulfilled in her professional work. I think this will help her greatly in the future to develop self-confidence and belief in her own abilities. However, I must admit that I have not yet found the ideal work-life balance – but I am working on it!

What specific support systems within the Osteology Foundation help you to master your multitude of tasks?

I must say that the office and all the staff at the Osteology Foundation have an extremely flexible and modern approach to work, which fits in well with my professional and private needs. The ability to use shared calendars and files, work remotely or use AI tools to summarise meetings and conversations, for example, makes work much easier.

The Osteology Foundation has announced next generation as a key project for the future. Do you feel that this initiative is really being supported internally with the necessary seriousness and long-term investment?

The Osteology Foundation has always shown a genuine interest in supporting the younger generations and really listening to them. The NextGen team is the result of this forward-thinking vision, and our goal is to clearly convey the voice of the new generation to the foundation and the board and to ensure that the younger generation is adequately represented and involved. In this context, I would like to emphasise that the Board has already involved us in various initiatives on its own initiative and has even specifically asked for our support and opinion in the implementation of important projects such as the structuring of the digital landscape, and that it has enthusiastically welcomed and supported some of our initiatives, such as the creation of the Next ReGeneration podcast or the “Paper Spotlight” initiative *, both of which have been very successful.

In your opinion, how is the next generation already changing the landscape of regenerative dentistry today, and what inspiration would you like to give to young colleagues who are at the beginning of their careers?

The NextGen group is working to implement new approaches and improve resources to pave the way and facilitate the career path of young colleagues in the field of oral regeneration. Our goal is to promote exchange and create concrete opportunities to increase the visibility of the new generation and meet their training and networking needs. The fact that we are an international team is a great advantage, as each of us brings different and complementary perspectives and points of view to the table.

The International Osteology Symposium in Vienna in April 2026 will be a clear highlight of the coming year in regenerative dentistry. What are the planned focal points and formats for NextGen, and what can young participants in particular look forward to?

The NextGen team will play an absolutely central role at International Osteology Symposium  in Vienna. We have organised two workshops for Friday, 24 April 2026, in which participants will be introduced step by step to surgical techniques for the regeneration of periodontal defects and bone regeneration around implants. These workshops are not only recommended for those who want to familiarise themselves with the field of regeneration for the first time, but also for those who already have clinical experience and want to learn about the latest techniques and the selection of suitable biomaterials. In addition, on Saturday, 25 April 2026, there will be an entire morning session led by the Next Gen team, which will focus on new trends in oral regeneration and provide many opportunities for direct exchange and lively discussion.

Thank you very much for your time and for this interview.

* “Paper Spotlight” is a series by the Osteology Foundation that presents important scientific work on oral regeneration, for example by the foundation's scholarship holders. These spotlights are shared on a monthly basis on the Osteology Foundation's social media channels. Current examples deal with topics such as three-dimensional bioactive collagen scaffolds for tissue regeneration.