CNR

Tissue and organ failure, caused by injury or other type of damage, accounts for a large part of the health care costs in EU and U.S. Current surgical or grafting procedures are only partly successful in restoring the functions of the damaged tissues.Tissue Engineering has emerged as a rapidly expanding field for repair and regeneration of damaged tissue and organs.This involves the seeding and attachment of human cells onto a scaffold through in-vitro, or a combination of in-vitro and in-vivo. Existing scaffold fabrication techniques are time consuming and costly. We plan to take the first steps towards the commercialization of a novel system to fabricate tissue scaffolds made of Graphene Oxide (GO) in an extremely dynamical and efficient manner. The prototype consists of opto-mechanical and laser components that will be used to dynamically deform the initially flat surface consisting of a single layer of GO deposited over a porous membrane. Specifically, we will utilize a Spatial Light Modulator laser and a novel software application in order to realize a pixelated surface with the desired profile. The spatial deformation will be controlled and detected with the use of Atomic Force Microscopy. Special shapes of the asperities, i.e. local surface maxima of a rough surface, enhance adhesion over the entire surface when in contact with a biological material. Analogously to known natural surfaces with hierarchical roughness, we aim to mimic this kind of effects by using Graphene thanks to its high strength and flexibility. All in all, the goal of VANGuaRD is two-fold: (1) to establish the technical feasibility of our idea by designing and building a highly versatile prototype device that includes both hardware and software components for fabricating easily reconfigurable GO-based scaffolds using only a single substrate. (2) to establish the commercialization potential of such system by means of designing a viable and scalable business model.

The use of science for the conservation of cultural heritage is nowadays widespread. Many studies have been conducted on artworks made of single materials (e.g. paintings, stones, metals). However, a novel research field is rising among European conservation scientists: the characterisation and conservation of composite artefacts. This project will be focused on composite artworks made of painted metal. Indeed, the particular use of metals as “canvas” has never been investigated even though many masterpieces were created using this technique. Known are the degradation mechanisms occurring to metal artefacts as well as to paints as single materials. However, rare studies about painted metals and paint-metal interactions have been undertaken so far. Indeed, there is an extended lack of knowledge about the degradation processes that occur on such artefacts and about the conservation methodology to adopt. The project INTERFACE (paINTed mEtal aRteFActs ConsErvation) aims to fill this lack of scientific information, having two main objectives: 1. The characterisation of the degradation mechanisms, with particular attention to the processes occurring at the paint-metal interface; 2. The development of a conservation methodology to preserve both paint film and metal substrate. In particular, the decay mechanisms and the conservation approaches of copper and iron/low carbon steel as substrates decorated with linseed oil paints and lacquers will be investigated. The first phase of the project will focus its attention on the permeation of the paint film, on the metal corrosion processes (e.g. differential aeration, cathodic delamination) and on the interaction between the binder fatty acids and the metal substrate at their interface. For the first time the interface area between the paint film and the metallic support will be characterized at micro and nano-scale. The second phase will be devoted to the development of a conservation methodology for painted metal artworks.

Cardiometabolic traits and risk factors including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension are the leading causes of death worldwide. These conditions exhibit some degree of sex differences, including differences in incidence or prevalence, age of onset, severity, disease progression, susceptibility, response to treatment and pharmacological adverse events. Unfortunately, the reasons behind this sex dimorphism are largely unknown, hampering the realization of an effective personalized medicine. My project will focus on understanding the genetic and molecular components that differentially impact men and women. I will first carry out sex stratified genome-wide association studies for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity using large population biobanks to evaluate the effects of known-genetic variants within each sex and to identify novel loci that may have been previously undetected. I will then use molecular quantitative trait loci (QTLs) to identify specific gene expression changes and proteins modulated by these variants and that are likely to be involved in sex-specific development of cardiometabolic traits and modulation of risk factors. I will then validate putative causal genes using Mendelian randomization approaches. This will lead to optimize therapeutics and find new drug target to perform equally well in males and females and will open the door to improve personalized and precision medicine in the near future.