The Smart Bio-Interfaces group focuses on the development and exploitation of physically-active nanoparticles and nanostructured materials, able to provide appropriate instructive cues to cells and tissues.
The remote control of cellular functions through smart nanomaterials represents a bio-manipulation approach with unprecedented potential applications in many fields of medicine, ranging from cancer therapy to tissue engineering. By actively responding to external stimuli, smart nanomaterials act as real nanotransducers able to mediate and/or convert different forms of energy into both physical and chemical cues, fostering specific cell behaviors. A new paradigm is proposed for nanomedicine, in order to exploit the intrinsic properties of nanomaterials as active devices rather than as passive structural units or carriers for medications.
In this view, we are focused on three main research topics:
- Cellular stimulation through piezoelectric, magnetic, redox-active and optically-active nanoparticles
- Multi-functional drug delivery systems
- Biology in altered gravity conditions, and nanotechnological countermeasures in space medicine
