The Bio-logic Materials research line develops materials and technologies to engineer bio-logically inspired platforms and systems for applications in the biomedical sector.
The control and the guidance of the interactions between synthetic materials and biological entities is the leitmotif of the research activities. The interactions range from individual biomolecules, cells up to tissues and organs and might occur in a broad range of timescales. Specific combinations of these are of crucial importance in various applications such as biomaterial design, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, drug delivery, diagnostics.
Our group has built up a solid know-how in the design and fabrication of materials displaying bioactive signals at the biologic-synthetic interface. Such functional interfaces are able to actively guide and control recognition events, which ultimately elicit specific responses.
Within this context, the research activities are organized according to specific platforms, namely Cell Instructive Materials, Tissues and Organs-on-Chip, Theranostic Nanoshuttles and Molecular Sensing Materials.
These activities address relevant issues of the biotechnological, pharmaceutical and clinical sectors and stimulate interdisciplinary joint collaborations of researchers belonging to both the academic and industrial field.
The center possesses more than 1200 m2 of laboratories equipped with cutting-edge instrumentation enabling synthesis, fabrication and characterization of material platforms and devices, along with state-of-art cell culture facilities for in vitro testing and organotypic tissue fabrication. Labs are located in the beautiful frame of the “Mostra d’Oltremare” exhibition park, close to the Polytechnique School of the University of Naples.