With the funding, which will be supplied for up to five years, Damien will attempt to reach new frontiers in mechanobiology with the development of a novel approach for the modelling of tissue engineering. By integrating the microscopic modelling of cells with the macroscopic modelling of scaffolds, this research will shed light on the influence of mechanical loading and stimuli on cell behaviour and the subsequent formation of tissues.
“A breakthrough in this project would have a radical effect on the methodology used by scientists in this field, and it would greatly aid the development of computer modelling in biomedicine,” says Damien. “I’m very proud to have had the potential of this work recognized by the ERC.”
Damien is the third IBEC researcher to win one of these highly sought-after grants, about 250 of which are awarded each year to EU-based researchers with talent and proven potential. In the last call, nearly 4100 proposals were submitted. In 2008 Pau Gorostiza, group leader in IBEC’s Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches group, received an ERC Starting Grant, as did Xavier Trepat in 2009.
