IBEC Seminar. Sung Hoon Kang
2025-07-25 10:00 - 11:00 (Europe/Madrid) | Torres I, Floor -1, Room 1
Bone-inspired materials with self-adaptable mechanical properties and rose prickle-inspired sutureless anastomosis devices for resilient and healthy future
Sung Hoon Kang, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
I will present our ongoing efforts to address current challenges in materials for structural/biomedical applications and surgical procedures to connect blood vessels together based on inspiration from nature.
First, I will present self-adaptive materials that can change their mechanical properties depending on loading conditions by the coupling between loading and material synthesis [1]. Bone provides structural support for human body, and it has been a subject of study and inspiration for novel materials due to its outstanding mechanical properties including toughness, self-healing, and remodeling capability, which is desirable to mitigate the failure of materials and structures through fracture and fatigue. However, it has been challenging for synthetic materials to change and adapt their structures and properties to address the changing loading condition to prevent failure.
To address the challenge, we are inspired by the findings that bones are formed by mineralizing ions from blood onto collagen matrices. I will present a material system that triggers proportional mineral deposition from electrolytes on piezoelectric matrices upon mechanical loadings so that it can self-adapt to mechanical loadings. For example, the mineralization rate could be modulated by controlling the loading condition, and a 30-180% increase in the modulus of the material was observed upon varying the cyclic loading condition. Moreover, our results showed that minerals were preferentially formed near the crack tip where stress was concentrated so that they contribute to blunting the crack tip and mitigating the propagation of the damage. As a result, the material system showed a decrease in crack propagation speed by ~90%, compared to samples tested in deionized water without mineral ions.
To expand the environment that the material can be utilized, we have investigated synthesis of liquid-infused porous piezoelectric composites inspired by bone and pitcher plant [2]. I will present our synthesis approach and resulting mechanical properties. The material showed over 36 times increase in modulus and 30 times increase in dissipation after 12 million loading cycles, demonstrating self-adaptive behavior in air. Furthermore, the material can be (re)programmed to generate multiple shapes by self-folding based on spatial distribution of mechanical loading. [3]. We envision that our findings can contribute to new strategies for making resilient and sustainable materials for dynamically changing mechanical environments, with potential applications including infrastructure, vehicle, and healthcare [4].
Second, I will present biomedical devices that can connect blood vessels together without suture. Vascular anastomosis, the surgical connection of adjacent blood vessels, is a foundational surgical skill critical for plastic and reconstructive surgery, transplant surgery, vascular surgery, and many other surgical specialties. The current standard of anastomosis is manually suturing two tubular structures together around an opening with fine sutures often requiring a microscope or vessel loupes. This is a century old technique with many challenges. Suturing technique requires extensive surgical training in resource-intensive settings. Procedures are long (60 to 90 minutes per anastomosis), expensive (up to $35,000 per procedure), and, at times, require specialized equipment (surgical microscope costing over $100,000 per unit). Even in the hands of skilled surgeons, the anastomosis can be complicated by leakage or thrombosis; 27% of cases result in complications and 25% require reoperation. Consequently, there is a pressing need for a more efficient and safer alternative to handsewn anastomosis.
Inspired by rose prickles that are used by the plant for climbing walls, we report a sutureless anastomosis device with anchors designed to hold free vascular ends together with traction. We utilized 3D printing to find an optimum geometry of anchors by conducting ex-vivo tensile testing and flow measurements, as well as in-vivo testing with porcine models. We identified an optimum geometry from ex-vivo testing with porcine vessels, which showed the failure force of our device is comparable or better than that of the handsewn suture (4.9 N) with stretch force tolerance up to 6.3 N. Based on pulsatile flow testing with porcine vessels, we found no leakage up to 45 mL/min flow rate, well above the physiologic blood flow rate in a microvascular flap after anastomosis (13.7±5 mL/min). Compared with handsewn anastomosis, the device resulted in minimum deformation of the anastomotic site. From in-vivo non-survival porcine studies (N=10), the device showed successful anastomosis (< 5 min per anastomosis) with no leaking for both arterial and venous anastomoses. There was no thrombosis or other technical failure identified during the 4-hour observation period after device implantation. Our anastomotic device has the ability to innovate the way blood vessels are put together making current procedures faster, easier, and safer. We envision our sutureless anastomotic device will contribute to significantly improve medical readiness and make anastomotic techniques more accessible to a broad range of clinicians, researchers, and patients across the world.

Ibec Seminar. Dr. Genís Prat Ortega
2025-09-18 10:00 - 11:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
Neurostimulation to correct neural circuit and motoneuron dysfunction
Dr. Genís Prat Ortega, PhD in Computational Neuroscience at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Neurostimulation therapies such as spinal cord stimulation (SCS) or deep brain stimulation have shown unprecedented clinical success in improving voluntary motor control. In this case the stimulation can be understood as a neuroprosthetic because it assists movement but its effect vanishes when turned off. In my presentation, I will show how neurostimulation can be used not only as an assistive neuroprosthetic but also as a therapy to correct neural network dysfunction. Specifically, I will show my postdoctoral work where we used SCS to correct motorneuron dysfunction in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA is an inherited neurodegenerative disease causing motoneuron dysfunction, muscle weakness and early mortality. Three therapies can slow disease progression enabling people to survive albeit with lingering motoneuron dysfunction and severe motor impairments. Starting from preclinical evidence showing that motoneuron dysfunction in SMA originates from the loss of excitatory inputs from primary afferents, we hypothesized that artificial augmentation of sensory neural activity with electrical stimulation could compensate for this loss thereby reverting motoneuron function. To test this hypothesis we implanted three adults with SMA with epidural electrodes over the lumbosacral spinal cord to stimulate the sensory axons of the legs. We stimulated participants for 4 weeks 2 hours per day while they executed walking and strength tasks. Remarkably, our neurostimulation regime led to robust improvements in strength, walking and fatigue paralleled by reduced neuronal hyperexcitability and higher motoneuron firing rates. Our data indicates that neurostimulation can reverse a degenerative process of circuit dysfunction thus promoting disease modifying effects in a human neurodegenerative disease. Finally, I will discuss future neurostimulation applications to correct neural network dysfunction.

The Attendance to this seminar will count for the PhD Certificate of Excellence.

NET-NANO. Workshop 3: Emerging nanotherapeutic modalities
2025-09-19 08:45 - 15:45 | Sala Dolors Aleu, Cluster II, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
The Next-Generation Nanomedicine Network (NET-NANO) is hosting its third workshop on September 19th, focusing on emerging nanotherapeutic modalities. This event will explore the latest advancements in self-adaptive, stimuli-responsive, and immunomodulatory strategies for nanomedicine. The workshop will feature talks from both internal IBEC researchers and leading external experts, including plenary sessions by Prof. Hélder A. Santos, Prof. Víctor F. Puntes, and Associate Prof. Cristina Fornaguera. Join us for a day of insightful presentations, a challenge board, and a roundtable discussion to network and explore the future of nanomedicine.
Registration (here) is mandatory (deadline 12th of September)

Scheduled Program:
08:45-09:00 – Registration
09:00-09:10 – Welcome from Network Coordinator
09:10-09:40 – Ekin Opar (Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches, IBEC)
“Triplet-Sensitized Photopharmacology for Deep Tissue Modulation of Cardiac Activity”
09:40-10:10 – Bárbara Borges Fernandes (Molecular Bionics, IBEC)
“Chemotactic Liposomes as Minimal Models of Active Navigation”
10:10-11:10 – Plenary: Prof. Hélder A. Santos (University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands)
“RNA-Based Polysaccharide Nanoformulations for Myocardium Infarction Therapy”
11:10-11:40 – Coffee Break & Challenge Board
11:40-12:10 – Dr. Juan C. Fraire (Smart Nano-Bio-Devices, IBEC/ IQAC-CSIC – Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia)
“Combining Nanocarrier Design and Self-Propulsion for Delivery of Nucleic Acids”
12:10-13:10 – Plenary: Prof. Víctor F. Puntes (ICN2 – Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia/ VHIR – Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca, Spain)
“Doping Cerium Oxide Nanocrystals with Oxygen Vacancies to Regulate Mitochondrial Function in the Context of Immune Exhaustion, Loss of Immunosurveillance and Cancer Development”
13:10-14:10 – Networking Lunch
14:10-15:10 – Plenary: Associate Prof. Cristina Fornaguera (IQS – Institut Químic de Sarrià/ URL – Universitat Ramon Llull, Spain)
“Overcoming Biological Barriers: RNA Delivery via Poly(β-amino ester) Nanocarriers”
15:10-15:40 – Roundtable Discussion
15:40-15:45 – Farewell from Network Representatives

NET-RARE. Workshop 3: Identification of Biomarkers and Diagnostic Models for Rare Diseases
2025-11-13 09:20 - 13:30 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
NET-RARE third workshop third workshop focuses on the latest technologies for identifying new biomarkers to enable early detection and better characterization of rare diseases. It also aims to explore strategies for using biomarkers to monitor disease progression and incorporate them as secondary endpoints in clinical trials.
The session will open with Marina Giannotti from IBEC’s Nanoprobes & Nanoswitches group, whose research explores mechanical biomarkers and evaluates therapeutic approaches for several rare conditions, including lysosomal storage disorders and collagen VI-related dystrophies. This will be followed by a presentation from Turgut Durduran of ICFO’s Medical Optics group (ICFO-MEDOPT), who will showcase his collaborative work with Sant Joan de Déu Hospital on rare paediatric diseases. This interdisciplinary group focuses on creating advanced photonic technologies to support pre-clinical and clinical biomedicine.
The plenary lecture will be delivered by international guest Pietro Spitali, from the Department of Human Genetics at Leiden University Medical Center (Netherlands). His research focuses on advancing our understanding of neuromuscular disorders through biomarker-based approaches. His group combines spatial technologies to connect biomarker signatures with tissue morphology and employs a multidisciplinary strategy that integrates molecular biomarker discovery in blood samples with a range of “omics” techniques. His work spans quantitative laboratory methods, statistical modeling, and the integration of complex datasets.
After a networking break, Marc Moltó from VHIR’s Clinical Biochemistry, Drug Delivery and Therapy group will present their recent progress in biomarker identification for lysosomal storage disorders. The workshop will conclude with a talk by Aranzazu Villasante of IBEC’s Nanobioengineering group, who will present their work on biomarker discovery using engineered models of rare cancers
Join us to explore the next steps to tackle rare diseases !
Workshop held in the framework of the IBEC Thematic Networks.
Registration (below) is mandatory.

PROGRAMME
09:20 – Registration
09:30 – Welcome and introduction
09:40 – Marina Giannotti, IBEC group “Nanoprobes & Nanoswitches”, “Nanomechanics in the search for Disease Markers: Focus on Molecular Dystrophy and Lipidosis”
10:10 – National invited speaker: Turgut Durduran from ICFO-Medical Optics (ICFO-MEDOPT) group. “Non-invasive measurement of deep tissue oxygen metabolism and blood flow: background, clinical relevance and potential for personalized treatment of rare diseases”.
10:40 – International invited speaker: Pietro Spitali from Human Genetics Department of the Leiden University Medical Center (Netherlands), “Circulating and local biomarkers in neuromuscular disorders”
11:30 – Coffee break and Networking
12:00 – National invited speaker: Marc Moltó from VHIR group “Clinical Biochemistry, Drug Delivery and Therapy”, “Biomarkers in Fabry disease: Challenges in clinical diagnosis and follow-up”
12:30 –Aranzazu Villasante, IBEC Group “Nanobioengineering”, “Predictive Bioengineered Niches for Biomarker Discovery in Developmental Cancers”
13:00 – Remarks and Closing
Abstracts of the plenary talks will be available here (Network programme).

REGISTRATION

Ibec Seminar. Anne de Poulpiquet
2025-12-12 10:00 - 11:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
CHARACTERIZATION OF ENZYMATIC BIOELECTRODES BY IN SITU FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY
A. de Poulpiquet,1 A. Guessab, 1 H. M. Man,1 I. Mazurenko,1 L. Bouffier,2 E. Lojou1
1Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, Bioenergetics and Protein Engineering, UMR 7281, Marseille
2 Institute of Molecular Sciences, UMR CNRS 5255, Univ. Bordeaux, ENSMAC, Pessac
adepoulpiquet@imm.cnrs.fr
Redox enzymes present remarkable catalytic properties (exceptional selectivity, high kinetic constant, low overvoltage, etc.) which are particularly interesting for bio-electrochemical devices (biosensors, biofuel cells, bioreactors). In the latter, they are immobilized at the surface of an electrode to enable electron transfer. Using three-dimensional (3D) electrodes improves the performance of the devices (sensitivity, current densities). However, enzymatic catalysis is very sensitive to the local environment (pH, temperature, ionic strength, concentration of substrates, products or inhibitors, etc.) whose composition, in the case of interfacial reactions, can differ from the bulk of the solution. These disparities are exacerbated when the enzymes are confined in the pores of 3D electrodes, due to the complexity of the associated mass transport. However, electrochemistry only provides indirect information on the environment of the electrode. Therefore, there is a major interest in coupling electrochemical techniques to other methods for collecting simultaneously spatial information.1-3 Precious information about mass transport and reactivity can be obtained by investigating the concentration profiles of the different species near the electrode surface, or in the volume of a porous electrode. We show that in situ fluorescence confocal laser-scanning microscopy (FCLSM) coupled with electrochemistry enables investigation of redox enzyme reactivity involving the indirect generation of fluorogenic species.4, 5 One of the most interesting features of FCLSM is the possibility to reconstruct 3D concentration profiles. Recording fluorescence in the volume adjacent to the electrode under potential control thus enables rebuilding the diffusion layer.2-5 We show that the method can be implemented to characterize electro-enzymatic catalysis at various planar and structured 3D electrodes.4, 5 For example, enzymatic O2 reduction involves proton transfers, which was evidenced via the fluorescence change of strongly pH-dependent fluorophores. Local pH changes in the electrode plane were measured during O2 reduction catalyzed by an immobilized bilirubin oxidase. Moreover, proton gradients generated during the enzymatic electrode reaction were imaged and their expansion under various experimental conditions were determined. Finally, the method enabled direct imaging of the evolution of confined environments in porous 3D electrodes such as gas-diffusion layers during electro(enzymatic) catalysis.

Ibec Seminar. Albert Folch
2025-12-18 12:30 - 14:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
“MICROFLUIDIC AND ROBOTIC PLATFORMS FOR TME-FRIENDLY CANCER DRUG EVALUATIONS”
Albert Folch, Professor University of Washington, Bioengineering Dept.
There is a lack of confidence in present in vitro disease models and drug efficacy tests, as they do not properly recapitulate the dynamic physiology and pathophysiology of the human organism. This challenge is particularly acute in oncology: present tools to study drug responses fail to faithfully mimic the patient’s tumor microenvironment (TME) and thus have not kept up with tumor biology and drug testing needs. As a measure of this problem, on average less than 4% of oncology drugs in clinical trials end up being FDA-approved, a dismal approval rate that has dire social repercussions such as high cancer drug prices and difficult accessibility. We have developed a suite of microfluidic platforms that address this problem by multiplexing the delivery of drugs to intact-TME human biopsies, altogether bypassing animal testing. We have developed and patented a microdissection methodology that allows for producing large numbers of cuboidal micro-tissues (“cuboids”) from a single tumor biopsy. We have been able to trap cuboids in arrays of microfluidic traps in a 96-well platform and we have developed very high-throughput automated robotic placement of mouse and human cuboids in 384-well plates. With these approaches, it will soon be possible to bypass animal testing and perform direct testing of drugs using only human tumors. Since these new-generation tests preserve the TME intact, we envision that they will minimize FDA failure rates and will contribute to alleviate the cost of cancer drugs. In this talk, I will also cover innovative 3D printing approaches of general applicability to the fabrication of complex biomicrofluidic systems such as organs-on-chips.
Albert Folch’s lab works at the interface between microfluidics and cancer. He received both his BSc (1989) and PhD (1994) in Physics from the University of Barcelona (UB), Spain, in 1989. During his Ph.D. he was a visiting scientist from 1990–91 at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab working on AFM/STM under Dr. Miquel Salmeron. From 1994–1996, he was a postdoc at MIT developing MEMS under Martin Schmidt (EECS) and Mark Wrighton (Chemistry). In 1997, he joined Mehmet Toner’s lab as a postdoc at Harvard-MGH to apply soft lithography to tissue engineering. He has been at Seattle’s UW BioE since June 2000, where he is now a full Professor, accumulating over 14,850 citations (h-index 55; career average 150 citations/paper). In 25 years, he has graduated 20 postdocs (20% of whom have reached faculty rank) and 33 graduate students (11 Ph.D. students, 27% of whom faculty rank, and 22 M.S. students). In 2001 he received an NSF Career Award, and in 2014 he was elected to the AIMBE College of Fellows (Class of 2015). He serves on the Advisory Board of Lab on a Chip since 2010 and on the Editorial Board of Micromachines since 2019. In 2022 he was elected a member of the Institute for Catalan Studies, one of the highest honors bestowed on Catalan scientists, and his book “Hidden in Plain Sight” won winner of the 2022 Outstanding Academic Title Award by Choice. He is the author of 6 books (sole author), including Introduction to BioMEMS (2012, Taylor&Francis), a textbook adopted by >103 departments in 18 countries, Hidden in Plain Sight: The History, Science, and Engineering of Microfluidic Technology (MIT Press, 2022), and the recent How the World Flows: Microfluidics from Raindrops to Covid Tests (Oxford University Press, 2025). Since 2007, the lab runs a celebrated outreach art program called BAIT (Bringing Art Into Technology), which has produced eight exhibits, a popular resource gallery of >2,000 free images related to microfluidics and microfabrication, and a YouTube channel that plays microfluidic videos with music which accumulate >177,000 visits since 2009.

Ibec Seminar. Ulrich Schwarz.
2026-01-16 10:30 - 11:30 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
Modelling optogenetic control of cell contractility
Ulrich Schwarz, Heidelberg University
Animal cells are highly dynamic and continuously generate force, for example for mechanosensing, cell division, cell migration, morphogenesis and regeneration. Their main force generators are non-muscle myosin II molecular motors that slide actin filaments past one another. We first discuss how myosin II minifilaments dynamically assemble on demand and how this system can be controlled by optogenetics. The resulting deformations and forces can be predicted with continuum models for active solids, which are solved with the finite element method and verified experimentally with traction force microscopy. Next, we use active gel theory combined with van der Waals theory for myosin II molecules to demonstrate that cell contractility is sufficient to explain cell migration and that optogenetics can be used to initiate, revert and stop migration. We then turn to multiple cells and show for a cell doublet how the neighboring cell actively responds to the contraction of an optogenetically activated cell. We finally introduce a finite element framework for cellularized active solids that allows us to study mechanosensitive wave propagation in optogenetically activated cell layers.

Transversal skills. Begonya Nafria Escalera
2026-01-23 10:30 - 11:30 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
Involucrar als pacients, no és una moda passatjera
Begonya Nafria Escalera, Patient Engagement in Research Head of Department at Sant Joan de Déu Chidren’s Hospital (Spain)
La recerca i la innovació que respongui a les necessitats dels pacients, requereix involucrar-los en les fases inicials i durant la vida d’un projecte. En aquesta sessió parlarem sobre la nova ciència que és el “patient involvement”, aportant també projectes inscpiradors que demostrin els beneficis d’involucrar als pacients en l’àmbit de les ciències de la salut.

Ibec Seminar. Silke Henkes
2026-01-26 16:00 - 17:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
Mechanochemical feedback in model epithelial tissues
Silke Henkes, Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University
In the development of animals, tissues self-organise starting from a single cell into layers, shapes and patterns. This active mechanical process operates beyond the theoretical framework of reaction-diffusion equations such as Turing patterns. At the same time, combining active driving with careful mechanical design of a system is distinct route to pattern formation and artificial functionality.
Here I will show how two types of active driving interacts with mechanics: First, for polar active materials where cells crawl on a substrate, even with only uncorrelated activity, elasticity leads to
the emergence of mesoscopic space-time correlations. I will show how this explains the ‘fingering instability’ at the edge of MDCK epithelial cell sheets as long lived active correlations. If we add alignment to generate a flocking state, and cell division and death, we model corneal epithelial cells well. We are then able to simulate the whole curved corneal epithelium, and show that an inflow of cells from the limbus generates a stable spiral flow pattern with a +1 topological defect at the centre.
Second, mechanochemical stress feedback in cell-cell junctions arises from the catch bond dynamics of the actomyosin cortex. It allows a junction to generate a contractile force that can overcome external pulling and thus allow for an active rearrangement or T1. In vertex and continuum models, for strong enough feedback this gives rise to convergence-extension flows where the flow is opposite the direction of mechanical polarisation, effectively generating a negative viscosity state.

Ibec Seminar. Francisco Lorenzo-Martín
2026-01-30 09:30 - 10:30 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
Next-generation organoid models for colorectal cancer research
Francisco Lorenzo-Martín, University of Salamanca

Three-dimensional organoid culture technologies have revolutionized cancer research by allowing for more realistic and scalable reproductions of tumor structures. This has enabled better modelling of low-complexity cancer cell behaviors that occur over short periods of time. However, the currently available organoid systems lack the requisite multi-cellular diversity, tissue-level organization, biological durability, and experimental flexibility that are needed to capture complex oncological processes. Consequently, the study of many multifactorial cancer mechanisms is still not possible in vitro and instead requires the extensive use of animal models, which provide limited spatiotemporal resolution of cellular dynamics and come at a substantial ethical cost. To overcome these limitations, we have implemented tissue engineering and microfabrication technologies to develop topobiologically complex ex vivo cancer avatars. Focusing on colorectal cancer, we have generated miniature tissues consisting of long-lived gut-shaped colon epithelia (‘mini-colons’) that are able to undergo tumorigenesis in vitro and stably integrate cancer cells with their native tumor microenvironment. This system provides an unprecedented repertoire of experimental possibilities, which we illustrate through diverse applications. Altogether, these next-generation organoid models push the boundaries of ex vivo cancer research.

Ibec Seminar. Prof. Pierangelo Gobbo
2026-02-03 10:00 - 15:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
A search for the right scientific question: can we fabricate cells and tissues from scratch?
Prof. Pierangelo Gobbo, University of Trieste
Bottom-up synthetic biology is an emerging research field whose objectives is to design and fabricate existing biological systems from inanimate molecules, materials, and chemical reactions.[1] One of the key biological systems that bottom-up synthetic biology is trying to re-design and fabricate is the living cell. This research led to the concept of “protocell” and “prototissues”.[2] A protocell is a micro-compartmentalised system capable of imitating at least one of the key features of a living cell (e.g., enzyme catalysis, communication based on diffusible chemical signals, information storage etc.). A prototissue is instead a free-standing and covalently interconnected network of communicating protocell units that can display synergistic functions.[3, 4]
While thus far efforts have been placed in the development of methods to fabricate PCMs with complex 3D architectures and demonstrate their chemical communication properties, in this contribution I will show how I used the knowledge acquired during my entire scientific journey to move beyond the state-of-the-art in bottom-up synthetic biology, and develop the first prototissues capable of photo-mechano-chemical transduction.[5] These are prototissues capable of converting a light stimulus into complex mechanical movements that in turn can influence the biocatalysis hosted within the protocell units composing the material itself. In order to achieve this, we have designed and assembled a covalent and thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (P(NIPAM)) polymer network directly inside the lumen of the protocells composing the PCM, where we also placed poly(ethylene oxide) (PEG) stabilised gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), amyloglucosidase (AGx), and glucose oxidase (GOx). By exploiting the photo-thermal effect of AuNPs and the thermoresponsive properties of the PNIPAM network in a synergistic manner, we were able to achieve reversible light-induced contractions of the PCM. Most importantly, the contraction caused the material to become hydrophobic. This made the contracted protocell membranes impermeable to small hydrophilic substrate molecules for enzyme catalysis, and effectively shut off the hosted enzyme cascade.
The fabrication of tissue-like materials with increasingly advanced biomimetic properties will not only help us to understand the physicochemical basis of the emerging behaviours of living tissues, but will also find important applications in tissue engineering, pharmacokinetics, mechanobiology, personalised therapy, in the development of micro-bioreactors and soft robotics.
Pierangelo Gobbo received his BSc (2008) and MSc (2010) in Chemistry at the University of Padua (Italy) and his PhD in 2016 at the University of Western Ontario (Canada). In 2016 he joined the research group of Prof. Stephen Mann, FRS at the University of Bristol (UK) as an NSERC of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow first, and then as an EU Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2019 Pierangelo started his independent research career at the School of Chemistry of the University of Bristol under a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowship (Assistant Professorship). In October 2021 Pierangelo moved to the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Trieste (Italy) where he is pioneering the first strategies to use synthetic cells (or “protocells”) as foundational units to assemble free-standing tissue-like materials with complex 3D architectures and programmable bio-inspired emergent behaviours such as contractility, phototropism, and biochemical sensing. During his academic career Pierangelo was awarded numerous awards for excellence in research. The most recent are Italy’s Giacomo Ciamician Medal for Organic Chemistry (2021), UK’s EPSRC New Investigator Award (2020), and the Canada’s Governor General’s Gold Medal (2017). He is currently PI on an ERC Starting Grant 2021, co-coordinator of an EIC Pathfinder Open 2022, and the coordinator of other National research projects.

Ibec Seminar. Monika E. Dolega
2026-02-16 11:30 - 12:30 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
Nucleolar mechano-adaptation and its role in epithelial homeostasis
Monika E. Dolega, Institute for Advanced Biosciences IAB, INSERM U1209, CNRS UMR5309, University Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France

Epithelial tissues experience constant mechanical stimuli tied to normal physiological functions, but how they maintain homeostasis under such dynamic conditions remains unclear. Our previous RNAseq study on in-plane compressed epithelial monolayers revealed altered transcripts of ribosomal proteins essential for ribosome biogenesis in nucleoli—membrane-less, sub-nuclear biocondensates that challenge classical mechanotransduction concepts. Although few studies confirm nucleolar sensitivity to external cues, detailed mechanisms are lacking. Using advanced microscopy, omics, and biophysical approaches, we uncover a new mechanism of nucleolar mechano-adaptation. Mechanical confinement over minutes reorganizes nucleolar structure and downregulates pre-rRNA transcription. Central to this process is the nucleolar protein Nucleolin, which translocates to perform two roles: it leaves the rDNA promoter region to down-regulate ribosome biogenesis and participates in DNA repair at damage sites caused by compression. This study introduces the nucleolus as a mechano-sensitive organelle, advancing mechanobiology and cancer research by revealing a new potential therapeutic target

Thematic Network. NET-CNS Workshop 3: Overcoming Therapeutic Barriers in CNS
2026-02-27 09:00 - 13:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
This third workshop will focus on overcoming therapeutic barriers in CNS disorders, with particular emphasis on delivery strategies, biological interfaces, and translational challenges.
Schedule
09:00 – Registration
09:20 – Welcome from Network Coordinator
09:30 – IBEC speaker: Daniel Gonzalez-Carter, Molecular Bionics group Group. “Exploiting the physiology of the BBB to target therapies to the brain.”Daniel Gonzalez-Carter, IBEC Molecular Bionics Group,
10:00 – Invited speaker: Cristina Fornaguera, NanoTherapies Lab, Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS), Universitat Ramon Llull (URL). “From Bench to Brain: Polymeric Nanoparticles for Controlled Brain Delivery”
10:40 – Coffee Break and Networking
11:10 – Invited speaker: Meritxell Teixidó, Gate2Brain. “Gate2Brain blood-brain barrier shuttle peptides: From discovery to applications and going beyond small molecules”
11:50 – Invited speaker: Eloi Montañez, IDIBELL Department of Physiological Sciences .Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona. “Linking TDP-43 to Vascular Degeneration and Neuroinflammation”
12:30 – IBEC speaker: Anna Lagunas, IBEC Nanobioengineering Group, “A BBB-on-a-chip (BBB-oC) with integrated micro-TEER to evaluate brain drug delivery”
13:00 – End of the Workshop
To register, click here.

Thematic Network. NET-CNS Workshop 4: Innovations in CNS Modeling:Cutting-edge In Vitro Systems​
2026-04-10 09:00 - 16:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
This fourth workshop will focus on innovations in drug delivery systems, crossing the blood-brain barrier, local delivery of drugs, and engineered proteins to read brain activity
Schedule
09:00 – Registration ​
09:20 – Welcome from Network Coordinator ​
09:30 – IBEC speaker: Jorge Oliver de la Cruz-IBEC​
10:00 – Invited speaker
11:00 – Coffee Break and Networking ​
11:30 – Víctor Borrell (Instituto de Neurociencias del CSIC).
12:30 – Industry speaker
13:00 – Lunch Break ​
14:15 – Invited speaker: Maria Bernabeu (EMBL Barcelona)
15:15 – invited speaker
15:45 – End of the Workshop

Ibec Seminar. Prof. Kara Spiller
2026-04-17 11:00 | Baobab room, Floor 11, Tower 1
Engineering Macrophages with Biomaterials for Regenerative Medicine
Kara L. Spiller, PhD, URBN Professor of Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
The inflammatory response, orchestrated primarily by macrophages, plays a major role in the body’s response to injury, disease, or implantation of a biomaterial. When macrophages function normally, they are a powerful force that promote tissue repair and regeneration, but when their behavior goes awry, healing is impaired. Our goal is to understand the mechanisms by which the inflammatory response orchestrates successful tissue regeneration and to develop novel biomaterial strategies that apply these principles to situations in which tissue regeneration is impaired. In particular, we study macrophages in inflammation, phagocytosis, cellular recruitment, vascularization, cell proliferation, tissue deposition, or remodeling, and we design biomaterials that leverage these findings for improved biomaterials design, enhanced macrophage cell therapy, and personalized medicine. Current projects in the lab are directed towards treatment of pulmonary fibrosis and chronic wound healing through biomaterial-enabled macrophage cell therapies.
Dr. Kara Spiller is the URBN Endowed Professor of Biomedical Innovation in Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems. Her research focuses on the role of immune cells in tissue repair and regeneration and the design of immunomodulatory biomaterials. Her research is funded by the NIH, the NSF, private foundations, and industry. Her awards include a Fulbright fellowship, the NSF CAREER award, and the United States Dept. of State ASPIRE prize. She has published more than 85 publications in biomaterials and immune engineering, and has 18 issued or pending patents. She is the founding director of the Immune Modulation & Engineering Symposium series in Philadelphia, which is the only annually recurring meeting dedicated to convergent research in translational immunology and engineering. She serves on the board of numerous journals and is a frequent NIH study section member.
