Experience in designing therapies based on the nanoparticles/vesicles, that include the fabrication, characterization, functionalization, behavior modelling and in vivo/vitro testing.
Focus areas: tissue regeneration, immunology, infections, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
- Synthesis, full characterization and functionalization of nanoparticles, made of biocompatible polymers or co-polymers (eg. PEG/PLA), mesoporous silica, liposomes, micelles, among others. Decorating and targeting agents include antibodies, aptamers, peptides, enzymes or other proteins.
- Design of nanoparticle-based therapies against:
- Biofilm infections, improving existing antibiotics for anti-biofilm purposes.
- Malaria and leishmaniosis, improving the performance of current antimalarial drugs and targeting specific pathogen phases.
- Design of phenotype-based cell-targeting strategies for nano-drugs and validation in vitro and in vivo. Tested applications: Immune system targeting for Tuberculosis and Bacterial Infections, and Blood-Brain-Barrier targeting for Alzheimer and Multiple Sclerosis.
- Design and development of fully biocompatible and biodegradable enzyme-powered nano swimmers (micro/nanoparticles with active motion) of low polydispersity and specific functionalization for drug delivery applications.
- Designing bioactive nano/micro particles with tailored regenerative properties for dermal and osseous tissue, recruitment of progenitor cells, angiogenesis and antimicrobial properties.
- Modelling nanoparticles pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic in-vitro and in-silico, including computational biophysics techniques like Molecular Dynamics, Coarse-Grain modelling and Binding energy calculations.
- Galleria mellonella toxicity model for nanomaterials (including nanoparticulated formulations).
- Multiparametric nondestructive measurement of mechanical and electrical properties of nanoparticles at the liquid-solid interface on a micro scale. Analysis of high polydispersity samples. High-throughput physical multiparametric characterization of single nanoparticles. Topographic and mechanical characterization of samples of interest. Functional electrical nanoscale imaging of samples in electrolyte solutions. Motion characterization of nanomotors in simulated joint-like matrices.
- Multiparametric characterization of single liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles for use as drug carriers
- Development of deposition protocols onto surfaces: deposition solution composition, solution characterization, deposition time and concentration, surface adsorption.