Description
Nanomedicine represents a paradigm shift in healthcare, offering tailored and sophisticated diagnostic, imaging, and therapeutic solutions for unmet medical needs. This network unites an interdisciplinary team of 9 IBEC groups, fostering new collaborations to drive translational research with far-reaching societal implications. For this, 4 workshops will be held, covering basic and applied research: “Tools to study biological systems” will cover tools (imaging techniques, nanopatterned substrates, functionalized particles) to study biomechanics, cell behaviour, and signalling, relevant to understanding disease; “Selective targeting and biological barriers” will focus on ways to deliver therapies to otherwise inaccessible sites (BBB, lungs, biofilms); “Emerging nanotherapeutic modalities” will explore self-adaptive, stimuli-responsive, and immunomodulatory strategies; “Towards clinical translation” will address challenges and new models to bridge in vitro-to-in vivo and bench-to-clinic gaps. Talks and onsite discussions will ignite ideas, supported by a Teams channel to enable continued contact and lead to project proposals that will be pitched and evaluated in the final retreat.
NET-NANO counts on the participation of the following IBEC research groups:
- Bacterial Infections & Antimicrobial Therapies
- Bioinspired Interactive Materials and Protocellular Systems
- Cellular and Molecular Mechanobiology
- Molecular Bionics
- Nanobioengineering
- Nanoprobes & Nanoswitches
- Nanoscale bioelectrical characterization
- Smart Nano-Bio-Devices
- Targeted Therapeutics & Nanodevices
Contact us:
Iris Batalha: ibatalha@ibecbarcelona.eu
Network Members
Network Coordinator:
Iris Batalha
Senior Researcher
She works on developing nanomedicines that target cells through their metabolic phenotypes.
Network Representatives:
Anna Lagunas
CIBER-BBN Senior Researcher
She works on the interrogation of cells at the nanoscale to gather information on the spatio-temporal regulation of complex biological mechanisms.
Juan Fraire
Senior Researcher
He works on exploring the synergy between nanocarriers, advanced light-triggered effects, and cutting-edge enzymatic nanomotors.
Núria Blanco-Cabra
Postdoctoral researcher
She works on innovative antibiofilm therapies, including the use of nanomedicine to target and cross bacterial biofilms.
Silvia Muro
Group Leader
She works on the design of nanodevices for delivery of therapeutics to specific disease sites.
Galyna Malieieva
Senior researcher
She works on the development of new light-activatable nanoswitches for the control of neuronal activity with nanoscale precision for brain circuits studies and innovative neurotherapeutic strategies.
Adriano Caliari
Postdoctoral Researcher
He works on the introduction of specific receptors on xenobiotic membranes to trigger artificial phagocytosis.
Mamatha Nijaguna
Postdoctoral Researcher
She works on the identification of mechanoinhibitors with potential therapeutic applications.
Annalisa Calò
Senior Researcher
She works on the transformations and nanoscale properties of different functional nanomaterials and on the biophysical characterization of biological entities by scanning probe techniques.
Network Programme
NET-NANO will organize 4 half-day workshops (WS) and a final retreat. Each workshop will feature two distinguished national or international experts and five IBEC speakers. Each WS will feature a «Challenge Board» to help ignite ideas and interactions, and to provide attendees with a platform to discuss and foster collaboration among groups and with external speakers.
Workshops Topics. Speakers and dates to be confirmed.
Workshop 1: Tools to study biological systems
Date and Venue
Monday 03/02/2025 · 09:00h – 15:45h
Dolors Aleu room, Cluster II, Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB)
This first workshop will focus on cutting-edge tools and techniques used to investigate cellular processes and disease. The event will feature two plenary lectures by leading external experts, along with a series of presentations by IBEC researchers.
Speakers will present on a range of topics, including nanomechanics, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, surface nanopatterning, membrane protein function, interprotein charge transfer, and single-molecule imaging. The event will offer numerous opportunities for networking, discussion, and knowledge sharing.
Scheduled Programme:
09:10 – Marina Giannotti, IBEC group “Nanoprobes andNanoswitches”, “Nanomechanics in seek for disease indicators”
09:40 – Aurora Dols Pérez, IBEC group “Nanoscale Bioelectrical Characterization”, “AFM as a tool for the study of drug delivery systems”
10:10 – Nisha Pawar, IBEC group “Molecular Bionics”, “Liquid phase Transmission Electron Microscopy and Machine Learning to understand structure and protein aggregation”
10:40 – Plenary: Elisabetta Ada Cavalcanti-Adam,University of Bayreuth (Germany), “Surface Nanopatterning for Investigating Receptor Clustering and Crosstalk in Cell Adhesion and Migration”
11:40 – Coffee Break & Challenge Board
12:10 – Anna Lagunas, IBEC group “Nanobioengineering”,“Unveiling membrane protein function with nanotools”
12:40 – Pau Gorostiza, IBEC group “Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches”, “Interprotein charge transfer in respiratory and photosynthetic chains”
13:10 – Networking Lunch
14:10 – Plenary: Prof María García-Parajo, Institute of Photonic Science (ICFO) & Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), “Single molecule imaging tools to unravel spatiotemporal compartmentalisation in living cells”
15:10 – Roundtable Discussion 15:40 – Farewell from Network Representatives
Workshop 2: Selective targeting and biological barriers
WS2 – “Selective targeting and biological barriers” will focus on ways to deliver therapies to otherwise inaccessible sites (BBB, lungs, biofilms).
Workshop 3: Emerging nanotherapeutic modalities
WS3 – “Emerging nanotherapeutic modalities” will explore self-adaptive, stimuli-responsive, and immunomodulatory strategies
Workshop 4: Towards clinical translation
WS4 – “Towards clinical translation” will address challenges and new models to bridge in vitro-to-in vivo and bench-to-clinic gaps
Final retreat: the aim is to select the final project and to discuss on future directions to foster continued collaboration beyond the original network scope.
All IBEC groups are welcome to join the network and actively participate by sharing their insights.