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SELECTBIO Conferences Innovations in Microfluidics & 3D-Printing Europe 2024

Gabriela Graziani's Biography



Gabriela Graziani, Assistant Professor, Politecnico di Milano

Dr. Gabriela Graziani is Assistant Professor in Bioengineering at Polytechnic University of Milan, where she conducts research regarding materials science applied to orthopaedics, with a special focus on materials for spine surgery, including new antibacterial, bioactive and anti-tumor materials and implants for the spine, new materials for disk regeneration, and tissue models, also obtained by combination of additive manufacturing and nanomaterials. She obtained her Master Degree (2012) and her PhD (2016) in Engineering at the University of Bologna, where she also served at as post-doc researcher. She has been researcher at Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute from 2017 to 2023 and adjunct professor of Ceramic Materials at the University of Bologna from 2016 to 2019. She spent research periods abroad, including 6 months as a Visiting Student Research Collaborator at Princeton University (2014-2105), under the supervision of prof. George Scherer and 2 months as a Visiting Scholar at the New York University (2023).

Her research was awarded with several prices including the ON-EORS award in 2021, a 10.000 AlmaCurie prize from the University of Bologna for participation to the MSCA call 2021, a 10.000 prize for start-up ideas (Programme Reactor, Fondazione Golinelli, Bologna) and by a visiting and training period at the “Mind The Bridge Startup School” (San Francisco, CA). She is board member of the European Orthopaedic Research Society (EORS), where she serves as Secretary General and Co-chair of the awards committee, and a Member of the Industry Alliance Committee and Innovation Committee of the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS). She also serves as Industry Liaison Officer in the Young Scientist Forum of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB-YSF). Previously, she served in the Young Investigators committee of the EORS (2020-2022). She is a member of the Cost Action NetwOArk (CA21110 “Building an open European Network on OsteoArthritis research”, 2022-on) and of the EUSOA congress working group (09/2023-on). She served as scientific committee member and chair, invited speaker, session co-chair and has co-organized several workshops and symposia at international conferences. She received funding from Principal Investigator of the project “A new strategy to address tumor relapses by nanostructured implantable devices”, financed by the Italian Ministry of Health and devoted to antimicrobial and antitumor materials for spine metastases, WP leader of projects funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government (RSE Saltire International Collaboration Award) and by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (5 per mille for Scientific Research) and key person of the Euronanomed Project “NANOVERTEBRA - Next generation antibacterial nanostructured osseointegrated customized vertebral replacement”.

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A Microfluidics-based Approach to Tackle Bone Tumors: Towards New Materials for Bone Metastases

Monday, 25 March 2024 at 15:00

Add to Calendar ▼2024-03-25 15:00:002024-03-25 16:00:00Europe/LondonA Microfluidics-based Approach to Tackle Bone Tumors: Towards New Materials for Bone MetastasesInnovations in Microfluidics and 3D-Printing Europe 2024 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Tumor relapse after surgical excision of bone metastases poses a key unmet challenge in orthopedic oncology due to its high incidence rate and potentially fatal outcome. Even in advanced cancer state, patients undergo treatment with bone substitutes/implants, to fill gaps resulting from excision surgery. In this groundbreaking study, we propose novel antitumor metal-based coatings to functionalize implanted devices and prevent tumor relapses. For their design and validation, we use a microfluidic-based approach, where chips are designed to select the optimal concentration of metal. To achieve this, we designed and realized a gradient generator microfluidic device, to be used for both tumor (breast cancer cells that metastasize in bone, MDA-MB-231) and healthy cells (mesenchymal stem cells, MSCs). This enables the detection of the optimal concentration for antitumor efficacy while avoiding cytotoxicity. In the chip, cell chambers are designed for cell seeding in a medium (2D configuration) and in a biomimetic gel (3D configuration) for pre-screening and validation, respectively. Coatings, manufactured by Ionized Jet Deposition, are dissolved in a simulated medium to obtain the solution to inject in the device. Cell viability, proliferation and migration are measured by calcein staining and fluorescence microscopy analyses in 6 parallel columns of chambers, each receiving a different dilution of the active compound. Three chambers per column allow for obtaining replicates simultaneously. Results demonstrate that the gradient generator microfluidic can detect the effect of different concentrations of the eluates on cells viability, migration and proliferation, with the latter parameters significantly more affected by metals. Hence, by merging results on MSCs and MDA, the device enables a fine selection of the metal concentration to be used. Cellularised biomimetic gels (collagen and Matrigel based) can be injected into the chambers without creating defects or hampering cell visualization. This new approach appears promising for the design of coatings, and can be easily  transferred to validate different biomaterials.


Add to Calendar ▼2024-03-25 00:00:002024-03-26 00:00:00Europe/LondonInnovations in Microfluidics and 3D-Printing Europe 2024Innovations in Microfluidics and 3D-Printing Europe 2024 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com