Samuel Sánchez Ordónez

Samuel Sánchez Ordónez

Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya

Engineering Sciences

Samuel (Chemistry, UAB, 2008) is Group Leader and Deputy Director.at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia. In 2009, he worked at NIMS, Japan, from 2010-2013 he was Group Leader at the Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, IFW Dresden, Germany. From 2013-2018 he was Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart. He was one of the first selected members of the Young Academy of Spain in 2020. He received several awards: Guinness World Record® 2010 and 2017 for smallest jet engine; MIT TR35 “Innovator of the year U35” Spain 2014; Princess of Girona Scientific Award 2015; National Research Award for Young Talent by FCRi, in 2016, Banco Sabadell Award 2022 and RSEQ Reseach Excellence Award 2022. He obtained the ERC Starting Grant 2012, 3 ERC PoC 2016, 2018 and 2023, and the ERC-Consolidator Grant in 2019. He holds 8 patents, >200 publications, h-index 72 and >18000 cites.

Research interests

Samuel Sánchez is leader of the “Smart Nano-Bio-Devices” group, working in the multidisciplinary field of Nanosciences with interest in developing hybrid robotics systems across different length-scales, from the nano- to the macroscale. Research interest spans from fundamental science, translational approach of nanodevices to the clinic to the exploitation of the protected intellectual property developed by the group. Currently, the main research lines in the group are: 1. Nanofabrication of nanobots as smart drug delivery systems for biomedical applications.; 2. Study of collective phenomena of active nanosystems; 3. Development of personalized medicine based on multifunctional biocompatible nanobots for patient-derived tumors and other diseases, 4. Use of medical imaging tools to track self-propelled nanobots in vivo and 4. 3D Printing living systems based on skeletal muscle tissues for tissue engineering, drug screening and living soft robotics.

Selected publications

- Fraire JC, Guix M, Hortelao AC, et al. 2023, 'Light-Triggered Mechanical Disruption of Extracellular Barriers by Swarms of Enzyme- Powered Nanomotors for Enhanced Delivery', Acs Nano, 17, 8, 7180 - 7193.

- Webster-Wood VA, Guix M, Xu N, et al. 2023, 'Biohybrid robots: recent progress, challenges, and perspectives', Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 18, 1, 015001.

- Mestre R, Fuentes J, Lefaix L, Wang J, Guix M, Murillo G, Bashir R & Sánchez S 2023, 'Improved Performance of Biohybrid Muscle‐Based Bio‐Bots Doped with Piezoelectric Boron Nitride Nanotubes', Advanced Materials Technologies, 8, 2, 2200505.
- Dolci M, Wang Y, Nooteboom SW, Soto Rodriguez PE, Sánchez S, Albertazzi L & Zijlstra P 2023, 'Real-Time Optical Tracking of Protein Corona Formation on Single Nanoparticles in Serum', ACS nano, vol. 17, no. 20, pp 20167-78.

Selected research activities

  • CoFounder and CSO of the spin-off Nanobots Therapeutics S.L.
  • 12 invited talks
  • Scientific Commitee of MARSS conference
  • Constantes y Vitales "Young Research Talent in Biomedicine" Award