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AboutUs
We are chemists, physicists, mathematicians, engineers, biologists who work alongside to design bionic units that mimic specific biological functions and/or introduce operations that do not exist in Nature. We apply a constructionist approach where we mimic biological complexity in the form of design principles to produce functional units from simple building blocks and their interactions. We called such an approach: Molecular Bionics.
theTeam
Prof Giuseppe Battaglia
Principal Investigator
Beppe (short for Giuseppe) is the Chair of Molecular Bionics in the Department of Chemistry at University College London, ICREA Research professor and Group Leader at Institute of Bioengineering of Catalunya
Laurea in Chemical Engineering (UoPalermo)
Ph'D Soft Matter Physics
(UoSheffield)
Dr Denis Cecchin
Operation Officer
(London)
Denis manages our labs operations in London and is also in charge of our translational activities. He's the CTO of both our two spin outs: SomaServe ltd and SomaNautix Ltd
Laurea in Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry
PhD in Cell and Tissue Engineering
(UoPadova)
Dr Clauida Di Guglielmo
Operation Officer
(Barcelona)
Claudia manages our labs operations in Barcelona. She's an expert in induced pluripotent stem cells and tissue engineering
Laurea in Medical-Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
(UoFerrara)
PhD in Biomedicine
(UoBarcelona)
MANAGEMENT
Dr Lorena Ruiz-Perez
EM manager & Microscopy Lead
(London)
Lorena is a Senior Research Fellow and Electron microscopy facility manager
Licenciatura in Physics
(UoSeville)
PhD in Soft Matter Physics (UoSheffield)
PDRA UoSheffield, UCL
Dr Joe Forth
Ramsey Fellow & Physical Biology Lead
(London)
Joe is a 2020 Ramsey research fellow and he's developing novel methods for printing soft materials)
MSc. In Physics
(UoBirstol)
Ph.D. In Physics
(University of Edinburgh)
PDRA Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UCL
Dr Diana Moreira Leite
EPSRC PDRF & Nanomedicine co-lead
(London)
Diana is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow sponsored under our ( EP/R024723/1 )EPSRC project in collaboration with SomaNautix Ltd.)
BSc in Biomedical Sciences
(UoBeria Interior)
M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering
(UoPorto)
Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics
(UoPortsmouth)
Dr Yangwei Deng (邓扬威)
ERC PDRF & Molecular Engineering co-lead
(London)
Yangwei (邓扬威) ia Post Doctoral Research Fellow sponsored under our ( EP/N026322/1) EPSRC project)
B.E. in Polymer Materials and Engineering
Ph.D. in Molecular Chemistry
RESEARCH FELLOWS
Dr Diana Lourenço Matias
CRUK PDRF
(London)
Diana is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow sponsored by the CRUK in collaboration with Prof Simona Parrinello at the UCL Cancer Institute
B.Sc. in Biochemistry
(UoEvora)
M.Sc. in Biomedical research
(UoCoimbra)
Ph.D. inn in Morphological Sciences
(UoRio de Janeiro)
Dr Aroa Duro Castaño
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow and Molecular Engineering co-lead
(London)
Aroa is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow in our labs in London where she also leads all our synthesis operations
Licenciatura in Chemistry
Master in Molecular Approaches in Health Sciences
Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biomedicine
(UoValencia)
Dr Azzurra Apriceno
ERC PDRF & Nanomedicine co-lead
(Barcelona)
Azzurra is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow sponsored by the ERC CheSSTAG project)
BSc in Chemistry
(UoNapoli)
MSc in Analytical Chemistry
Ph'D in Analytical Chemistry
(Sapienza University)
Dr Virginia Gouveia
SomaServe Scientist & Tech. transfer lead
(London)
Virginia is the Formulation specialist in SomaServe ltd
B.Eng in Bioengineering
M.Eng in Biomedical Engineering
(UoPorto)
Ph'D in Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Dr Daniel Gonzalez-Carter
Caixa Junior Leader Fellow
(Barcelona)
Daniel is a Caixa Junior leader postdoctoral fellow
B.Sci Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, (UoNottingham)
MSc. Pharmacology (King's College London)
Ph'D in Neuroscience (Imperial College London)
Dr Rui Pereira
AIRC iCARE fellow
(Barcelona)
Rui is a AIRC-iCARE2 research Fellow working on the development of novel brain tumour models
B.Sci in Applied Biology
M.Sc on Processing and Characterization of Materials University of Minho (PT).
Ph'D in Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells
University of Minho (PT)./University of Genoa (IT)
Dr Silvia Acosta Guitierrez
CwCUK PDRF & Computational lead
(London)
Silvia is a computational physicist working on the design od phenotypic medicine
B.Sci iin Physics
M.Sci Physics
(University of La Laguna. Tenerife (Spain))
Ph'D in Physics
(University of Cagliari)
EPSRC PDRF
(London)
Spyridon is Post Doctoral Research Fellow sponsored under our ( EP/R024723/1 )EPSRC project in collaboration with SomaNautix Ltd.)
BSc. in Chemstry
MSc. in Polymer Science (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Ph.D. in Chemistry
(University of Birmingham)
Dr Spyridon Varlas
PhD STUDENTS
Gabriele Marchello
JEOL/EPSRC Student
(London)
Gabriele is working on Brownian tomography using liquid-phase scanning transmission electron microscopy
BEng in Electronic Engineering
MEng in Mechatronic Engineering
(Politecnico Torino)
Safa Al-Madhi
Self-sponsored Student
(London)
Safa is working on the characterisation and development of polymersomes chemotactic behaviour
MSci in Pharmaceutical Chemistry
(Queen Mary University of London}
Chiara Cursi
AZ/EPSRC Student
(London)
Chiara is working on Precision cancer targeting by combinatorial low-affinity binding
BSc Molecular Biology
MSc in Molecular Biology
(UoPisa)
Belen Sola Barrado
CwC UK Student
(London)
Belen is working on Precision Nanomedicines for the Treatment of Paediatric Gliomas.
BSc in Chemistry
(UoGranada)
MRes Drug Discovery and Development:
(Imperial College London)
Cesare De Pace
DENSsolutions/EPSRC Student
(London)
Cesare is workin onLive cell Imaging using liquid-phase scanning transmission electron microscopy
Laurea in Pharmacy
(UoRoma Tor Vergata)
Miguel (Miko) Sipin
EPSRC Student
(London)
Miko is working on Development of Personalised Medicine for the Treatment of Brain Tumours
M.Sc. in Chemistry
(UoOxford)
Barbara Ibarzo Yus
EPSRC Student
(London)
Barbara is working on Polymersomes for cancer immune-therapy applications.
B.Sc. in Biotechnology
(UoZaragoza)
MSc Genetics and Cell Biology
(Coputense Madrid)
Joseph Buckley
ERC Student
(London)
Joe is working on the Theory and Simulation of Phenotypic Targeting and Super Selectivity .
MSci in Chemistry with Mathematics
(University College London)
MRes in Fluid Dynamics Across Scales
(Imperial College London)
Maryam Al-Ghandi
King Abdullah Sch. Student
(London)
Maryam is working on the study of biodegradation of polymersomes and micelles
BSc in Chemistry
MSc in Analytical and Forensic chemistry
(UoHull)
Valentino Barbieri
EPSRC Student
(London)
Valentino is working on the Development of Bioinspired Phototactic nanorobots in collaboration with Dr Giorgio Volpe activematterlab.org
Laurea. in Materials and Nanotechnology Engineering
(Politecnico Milano)
Gabriel Ing
Welcome Trust Student
(London)
Gabriel is working on Liquid phase transmission electron microscopy of RNA polymerase collaboration with the Prof Finn Werner labs
BSc in Biochemistry
Imperial College London
Junyang Chen
(陈君洋)
Self-sponsored student
(London)
Junyang is working on the Development of soft random laser for biosensing in collaboration with Ricardo Sapienza at Imperial College London
B.Sci Biology
Anhui University
MSci Cell Biology
The University of Manchester
Jiangqi Feng
(冯江琪)
Self-sponsred Student
(London)
Jangqi is working on the mechanism and therapy of BBB inflammation
B.Eng. Biopharmaceutics
(Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine)
MSc in Pharmaceutics
(University College London)
Melis Pisiren
BBSRC/AZ Student
(London)
Melis is working on the study of macromolecular transport across the blood-brain barrier in collaboration with Astrazeneca
BSci. in Genetics
(UoGlasgow)
MRes. Neuromuscular Diseases
(University College London)
Barbara Borges
ERC Student
(Barcelona)
Barbara is working on the study of active transport in reactive vesicles
BEng Chemical Engineering
MEng Mechanical Engineering (Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG)
MSci Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
(KU Leuven & University of Barcelona)
Lara Aiassa
ERC Student
(Barcelona)
Lara is working on the study of the pathophysiology of Tuberculosis in order to decipher the host-pathogens interactions d in collaboration with Prof. Loris Rizzello.
B.Eng Biomedical Engineering
Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
M.Sci in Bionanotechnology
(Politecnico di Torino)
MASTER, VISITING, AND UG STUDENTS
William Wood UCL MSc in Chemical Research (London)
Alexa Marocchin UCL MSc in Chemistry (London)
Outputs
Selected publications
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X. Tian, D. Moreira-Leite, E. Scarpa, S. Nyberg, G. Fullstone, J. Forth, D. Lourenco-Matias, A. Apriceno, A. Poma, A. Duro-Castano, M. Vuyyuru, L. Harker-Kirschneck, A. Saric, Z.Zhang, P. Xiang, B. Fang, Y. Tian, L. Luo, L. Rizzello, G. Battaglia* On the shuttling across the blood-brain barrier via tubules formation: mechanism and cargo avidity bias Science Adv. 2020, 6 (48), eabc4397
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I. Williams*, S. Lee, A. Apriceno,R. P. Sear, G. Battaglia* Diffusioosmotic and convective flows induced by a non-electrolyte concentration gradient Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2020, 17, 25263-25271
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M. Liu, A. Apriceno, M .Sipin, E. Scarpa, L. Rodriguez-Arco, A. Poma, G. Marchello, G. Battaglia*, S. Angioletti-Uberti* Combinatorial entropy behaviour leads to range selective binding in lig- and receptor interactions Nature Comm. 2020 11, 4836
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X. Tian , C. De Pace, L. Ruiz-Perez, D. Chen, R. Su, M. Zhang, R. Zhang, Q. Zhang, Q. Wang, H. Zhou, J. Wu, Z. Zhang*, Y. Tian*, and G. Battaglia* A Cyclometalated Iridium (III) Complex as a Microtubule Probe for Correlative Super-Resolution Fluorescence and Electron Microscopy Adv. Mater., 2020, 32, 2003901
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F. Fenaroli, J. D. Robertson, V. Gouveia, C. Di Guglielmo, C. De Pace, E. Scarpa, P. M Elks, D. Evangelopoulos, J. Ortiz Canseco, S. Yona, H. M Marriott, D. H Dockrell, S. Foster, T. McHugh, S. A Renshaw, J. Samitier, G. Battaglia* and L. Rizzello* Polymersomes Eradicating Intracellular Bacteria ACS Nano 2020, 14, 7, 8287–8298
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X. Tian, S. Angioletti-Uberti, G. Battaglia* On the design of precision nanomedicines. Science Adv. 2020, 6, 4 , eaat0919
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Y. Zhu, A. Poma, L. Rizzello, V. Goueveia, L. Ruiz-Perez, G. Battaglia*,and C.K. Williams* Metabolic active fully hydrolysable polymersomes Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 8, 4581 –4586
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A. Joseph, C .Contini, D. Cecchin, S. Nyberg, L .Ruiz-Perez, J. Gaitzsch, G. Fullstone, J. Azizi, J. Preston, G. Volpe, G. Battaglia* Chemotactic synthetic vesicles: design and applications in blood brain barrier crossing Science Adv., 2017, 3, 8, e1700362
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L. Messager, J. Kim, J. Burns, D. Cecchin, J. Hindley, J. Gaitzsch, G. Battaglia*, S. Howorka* Biomimetic nanoreactors composed of polymersomes, membrane spanning DNA nanopores, and encapsulated enzymes Angew. Chem. Int. Ed, 2016, 37, 11272-11275
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L. Ruiz Perez, L. Messager, J. Gaitzsch, A. Joseph, L. Sutto, F. L. Gervasio and G. Battaglia* Molecular engineering of polymersome surface topology Science Adv. 2016, e1500948
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P. Viswanathan, M. Ondeck, S. Chirasatitsin, K. Nghamkham, D. Cecchin, G. C. Reilly, A. J. Engler* and G. Battaglia* 3D Surface Topology Guides Stem Cell Adhesion and Differentiation Biomaterials 2015, 52, 140–147
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J. D. Robertson ,G. Yealland, M. Avila-Olias, L. Chierico, O. Bandman, S. A. Renshaw, G. Battaglia* pH sensitive tubular polymersomes: formation and applications in cellular delivery ACS Nano, 2014, 8, 4650–4661
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A. Blanazs, J. Madsen, G. Battaglia*, A. J. Ryan* and S. P. Armes* Mechanistic Insights For Block Copolymers Morphologies: How Do Worms Form Vesicles? J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011 133 (41), 16581–16587
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M. R. Gill, J. Garcia-Lara, S. J. Foster, C. Smythe, G. Battaglia* and J. A. Thomas* A Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Complex for Direct Imaging of DNA Structure in Living Cells Nature Chem. 2009, 1, 662 - 667
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H. Lomas, I. Canton, S. MacNeil, J. Du, S.P. Armes, A.J. Ryan, A.L. Lewis and G. Battaglia* Biomimetic pH Sensitive Polymersomes for Efficient DNA Encapsulation and Delivery, Adv. Mater. 2007, 19, 4238–4243
