Welcome

I am a Professor of Healthcare Materials at the University of Leeds (UK), with a joint appointment in the School of Design and School of Dentistry.  

My current research interests are looking at antibiotic-free antibacterial strategies for infection control, rapid and reliable photo-chemistries for the manufacture of customisable hydrogels, controlled drug delivery, the manufacture of intelligent textile fibres, as well as technology translation for clinical use. Additional information on my research can be found here.

Following my postdoctoral training at the WELMEC centre of excellence in medical engineering (University of Leeds, UK), I have developed a family of biopolymer-based systems for applications in wound healing and guided bone regeneration, as well as a novel collagen manufacturing technology that is now patented in the US and Europe. Resulting prototypes have successfully been tested in vivo with regards to their wound healing capability. 

The wound healing capability of a new collagen hydrogel has been successfully confirmed via preclinical evaluation in a full thickness wound model in diabetic mice. The hydrogel proved to promote complete wound healing in a 20-day time window, accelerating wound response compared to a commercial polyurethane dressing.

Prior to joining the University of Leeds, my PhD work focused on the synthesis and biological evaluation of amorphous gelatin networks in the form of both hydrogels and porous scaffolds. Their in vivo capability to support endogenous regeneration was successfully demonstrated in critical-sized bone defects in rats. Previous research activities also looked at the formation of hydrogel nanocomposites via passive and selective biomimetic mineralisation with hydroxyapatite (at Powder Technology Laboratory, EPF-Lausanne). Here, the impact of various additives was studied in order to control the mineralisation process.

Lamellae structures in mineralised hydrogels following incubation in a calcium phosphate solution. MSc thesis, Polytechnic University of Turin (2005).