Our efforts are devoted to the translation of noble metal nanomaterials to the bed-side by addressing the issue of metal persistence, in order to promote innovative and non-invasive treatments for neoplasms and infectious diseases.
By employing the ultrasmall-in-nano design, we have developed the passion fruit-like nano-architectures (WO2016/139591): an all-in-one inorganic nanomaterial able to jointly combine most of the intriguing behaviors of noble metal nanoparticles with their excretion from organism. Our main interests are related to photothermal conversion, drug delivery, photoacoustic/ultrasound imaging. In agreement with the 3R concept, we also continuously develop new 3D cancer models to test nanomaterials.
Thanks to the support of Fondazione AIRC we are especially working on combined treatments for head/neck neoplasms.
We are also involved in the development of novel nanorattle catalysts for hydrogen storage and automotive exhaust gas treatment.
Translatable NanoTheranostics
Group members
Publications
2025
Pizzoli G., Gargaro M., Drava G., Voliani V.
Inorganic Nanomaterials Meet the Immune System: An Intricate Balance
Advanced healthcare materials, vol. 14, (no. 11)
2025
Zamborlin A., Pagliari F., Ermini M.L., Frusca V., Garcia-Calderon D., Tirinato L., Volante S., Bresciani G., Marchetti F., Seco J., et al.
Invasiveness modulation of glioma cells by copper complex-loaded nanoarchitectures
Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, vol. 245
2024
Bassi G., Rossi A., Campodoni E., Sandri M., Sarogni P., Fulle S., Voliani V., Panseri S., Montesi M.
3D Tumor-Engineered Model Replicating the Osteosarcoma Stem Cell Niche and In Vivo Tumor Complexity
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
2024
Gonnelli A., Sarogni P., Giannini N., Linsalata S., Di Martino F., Zamborlin A., Frusca V., Ermini M.L., Puccini P., Voliani V., et al.
A bioconvergence study on platinum-free concurrent chemoradiotherapy for the treatment of HPV-negative head and neck carcinoma
Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine and Biotechnology, vol. 52, (no. 1), pp. 122-129
2024
Frusca V., Cavallini C., Zamborlin A., Drava G., Barone V., Gherardini L., Chiariello M., Armanetti P., Ermini M.L., Menichetti L., et al.
In Vivo Combined Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Treatment of HPV-Negative Head and Neck Carcinoma with NIR-Responsive Non-Persistent Plasmon Nano-Architectures
Advanced Therapeutics
Collaborations
- Prof. Gang Zheng, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and TECHNA Institute (Toronto, CA)
- Prof. Hélder Santos, University of Helsinki (Helsinki, FI)
- Prof. Fabiola Paiar, Radiation Oncology - Pisa University Hospital (Pisa, IT)
- Prof. Luca Menichetti, IFC-CNR (Pisa, IT)
- Prof. Fabio Marchetti, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry - University of Pisa (Pisa, IT)
- Dr. Rosalia Bertorelli, In vivo Facility - Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Genoa, IT)
- Dr. Laura Poliseno, Oncogenomics Unit - Core Research Laboratory - CNR (Pisa, IT)
- Dr. Orazio Vittorio, Children's Cancer Institute (Sydney, AU)
- Dr. Michele Mondini, Gustave Roussy (Paris, FR)
- Dr. Jan Grimm, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (NY, USA)
Journal covers
