Anna will give a lecture in the “Advances in Materials” seminar series at the Institute of Materials of the
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Engineering Iron Oxide Nanoparticles towards Clinical Applications Anna Roig Materials Science Institute of Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain Monday, October 27, 2014, in lecture hall MX F1 at 1:15 pm
Abstract: Iron oxide nanoparticles are becoming an important class of materials in nanomedicine. They can be used for imaging as contrast agents in MRI as well as for therapeutical purposes and are FDA approved. The talk will start with a brief introduction to iron oxide nanoparticles, a description of the characteristics that make them attractive in the health sector and some of their recently reported biomedical applications. It will then be followed by the workflow we have undertaken to validate in-house synthesized magnetic nanoparticles and nanocapsules to promote angiogenesis as a brain neurorepair therapy after stroke.(1,2)
1) Rapid synthesis of water-dispersable SPIONs by microwave assisted route for safe labeling of endothelial progenitor cells, ActaBiomaterialia2014, 10, 3775. 2) In vitro Angiogenic Performance and in vivo Brain Targeting of Magnetized Endothelial Progenitor Cells for Neurorepair Therapies, Nanomedicine2014, 10, 225
Prof B. Fernández van Raap from the Instituto de Fisica de La Plata (IFLP) Argentina visits us for two weeks. Her research interests are mainly focused on the synthesis and development of new nanomediators and nanocarriers for magnetic hyperthermia and drug delivery applications.
The Foltra Foundation http://www.proyectofoltra.org/ awarded Elisa Carenza, as a first author under 30, with the First Edition of the Dr Ramon Rios Prize for her contribution in the paper “In vitro angiogenic performance and in vivo brain targeting of magnetizad endothelial progenitor cells for neurorepair therapies” published Jan 2014 in Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine.Elisa succesfully defended her PhD thesis in July this year.
Bacterial Cellulose Films: Influence of bacterial strain and drying route on film properties from Muling Zeng, Anna Laromaine* and Anna Roig* accepted in Cellulose, DOI: 10.1007/s10570-014-0408-y
This paper reports the production of bacterial cellulose thin films from two bacterial strains, Gluconacetobacter xylinus (GX) and Gluconacetobacter europaeus (GE), and three methods of drying the films; at room temperature (RD), freeze drying (FD) and supercritical drying (SCD). The porosity, transparency, water absorption capacity and mechanical properties of the obtained films are further investigated. We conclude that materials with different properties can be fabricated by selecting the bacterial strain or the drying method.
Laura González has been awarded a full scholarship to attend the summer school “Integrative cellular and molecular biology. Fundaments and frontiers of the new biology”, which will be held from the 25th to the 28th of August 2014 at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Santander.
Pol Sallés, undergraduate student of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology degree at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, has been awarded with a JAE-INTRO scholarship by the CSIC to spend a three-month internship in our group. He will work on a project related to “Heterostructures of layered inorganic nanoparticles on bacterial cellulose substrates” and will be supervised by Anna Laromaine and Anna Roig.
The N&N Group has been recognized as an Emerging Group (2014SGR213) accredited by the AGAUR (Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de la Recerca) de la Generalitat de Catalunya. Our group has been also awarded with funding which is very much welcomed!