The Health Line focuses on creating scientific and translatable value by producing innovative products and technologies for pharmaceutical, medical, and advanced healthcare applications. It encompasses the development of new biomaterials, their modification and processing, discovery of therapeutic molecules, and pre-clinical validation of biomedical products and devices.
Aims
MULTIFUNCTIONAL BIOMATERIALS
Biomaterials considered are based on glass and ceramic systems, or developed from polymers obtained from natural sources, including polysaccharides and proteins from marine renewable sources or waste from animal and human origin. These materials have applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and as biosensors for diagnosis/prognosis purposes. Other drug delivery systems being developed include organic, inorganic and hybrid platforms, engineered at the micro- and nanoscale, with tunable properties and advanced functionalities.
LIVING MATERIALS
Focus is on using various types of cells as building blocks for living materials. Encapsulation technologies, cell assembly technologies and bioprinting strategies are being used to tailor their properties and application performance. These living materials are being investigated in advanced therapies and as disease models for preclinical drug discovery.
BIOPHARMACEUTICALS
This axis focuses on the development of efficient biological and cell-based materials, viz., living cell-, gene- and protein-based therapies, to tackle priority health diseases. Biopharmaceuticals being investigated include immunoglobulins or other recombinant proteins, and nucleic acids such as pDNA, mcDNA and mRNA.
NON-INVASIVE WEARABLE TECHNOLOGIES
This axis addresses non-invasive wearable technologies based on smart materials for biochemical sensing applications to monitor analytes like glucose and uric acid, and biophysical sensing, enabling the development of autonomous devices to monitor in real time, analyze, and aggregate physiological data for precise and timely diagnosis, improving personal health and wellbeing.
ANALYTICAL TOOLS
Leveraging our expertise in metabolomics, this axis aims to create analytical tools for assessing material-organism interactions, monitoring complex cellular processes leading to biomaterials advances, and identifying biomarkers in human samples.
Aligned with SDG and global Health challenges, this Line aims to offer innovative solutions, from early diagnosis to novel therapeutics and rehabilitation, aiming to improve quality of life and promote healthier aging. It involves interdisciplinary research and partnerships with health-focused companies and clinical partners, adhering to a bench-to-bedside approach via R&D.