Giancarlo Franzese leads the Statistical Physics of Complex Matter group at UB. PhD in Physics with honors (Naples 1998), Associate Researcher at Roma 3 University, Boston University, Naples SUN, La Sapienza University Rome, Ramón y Cajal at UB 2003, since 2002 Visiting Professor at Universities of Boston, Cambridge, UC-Dublin, Beijing, Porto Alegre, he is UB Tenured Professor since 2008; Guarantor and Member of the Steering Committee of the Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of UB (IN2UB); Member of the International Advisory Board of the European Molecular Liquids Group. He won the Young CNR Research Abroad prize 2000, the UB Incentive Program for Research 2012, the Royal Society of Chemistry-UK selection as Emerging investigator in Soft Matter 2012, the Campania-Felix prize for academic merits 2016. He ranks within the Top Scientists in Spain in Multidisciplinary Physics, the Top Italian Scientists in the World, with works among the Highly Cited Papers in Physics.

Research interests

The group develops a multi-scale approach for hydrated NanoBioSystems under realistic conditions (e.g., nanoparticles and protein solutions at physiological conditions over time-scales up to hours). We combine atomistic simulations of hydrated bio-interfaces (e.g., proteins or membranes), nano-interfaces (e.g., nanoparticles or graphene sheets) and coarse-grain models for protein folding and  design. We focus on protein self-assembly and crystallization, in bulk or under confinement, and on the kinetics of proteins adsorption on nanoparticles, verifying our predictions in collaboration with several experimental groups. We try to find answers for fundamental questions (Why water is so important for life? Which properties make water unique for biological processes?) and applications (What makes a nanoparticle safe-by-design? Can we limit protein-aggregations causing Alzheimer? How to implement nanotheranostic? How to develop Cancer NanoMedicine?).

Keywords

Biological Physics. Biological Water. Bio-Nano Interactions. Protein Folding. Protein Design. Self-Assembly. Complex Liquids. Soft Matter.