Kostas is ICREA Professor and Severo Ochoa Distinguished Professor leading the Nanomedicine Lab (www.nanomedicinelab.com) at ICN2 in Barcelona (Spain) and Professor of Nanomedicine at the Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health at the University of Manchester (UK). He has contributed to the discovery, development and clinical translation of nanomaterials and engineered nanoscale particle systems in medicine and biology. Kostas (PhD in Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, 1996) was the first named Chair of Nanomedicine in the UK in 2007 at the University College London (UCL) School of Pharmacy. He has spent all of his career developing clinically translated nanotechnologies within medical research institutions in the USA (UCSF; Memorial Sloan Kettering; Cornel Weill Medical College) and the UK (Imperial College Genetic Therapies Centre; Centre for Drug Delivery, UCL School of Pharmacy; Manchester Cancer Research Centre).
Research interests
The activities of the Nanomedicine Lab had been focusing on the development, transformative engineering and application of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies in medicine. An ambitious research programme (>€10M direct income from public & private sources since 2016) is actively under development, ranging from fundamental nanomaterials and nanoscale device engineering (leading role in the research & management of the EC Graphene Flagship) to their clinical translation. Two recent first-in-human clinical trials championed by the Nanomedicine Lab using their materials and technologies, include: pulmonary safety with the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (completed), and precision-enhancing surgical removal of aggressive brain cancer with Salford Royal Hospital (ongoing), including the creation of spin-offs (INBRAIN Neuroelectronics) and licensing in multiple industrial partners (mainly in the biotech and pharma sectors).
Selected publications
– Andrews J, Joshi S, Tzolos E, Syed M, Cuthbert H, Crica L, Lozano N, Okwelogu E, Raftis J, Bruce L, Poland C, Duffin R, Fokkens P, Boere J, Leseman D, Megson I, Whitfield PD, Ziegler K, Tammireddy S, Hadjidemetriou M, Bussy C, Cassee F, Newby D, Kostarelos K & Miller M 2024, ‘First-in-human controlled inhalation of thin graphene oxide nanosheets to study acute cardiorespiratory responses‘, Nature Nanotechnology, 19, 705–714.
– Rahaf I, Lozano N, Kostarelos K & Vranic S 2024, ‘Functioning human lung organoids model pulmonary tissue response from carbon nanomaterial exposures‘, NanoToday, 56 -102254
Selected research activities
Keynote Speaker, 26 Jun 2024, United Kingdom
Back to the Future: Creative Revisiting of the PEGylated Liposome from Biomarker Scavengers to Brain Transporters
18th Liposome Research Days “Delivering Innovation and Driving Applications”
Discussion Panel, 21 May 2024, Belgium
Workshop: Towards an inclusive governance approach to neurotechnology in the EU
Institute of Neuroethics & International Center for Future Generations
Keynote Speaker, 15 Apr 2024, Lithuania
Everything you always wanted to know about the Clinical Translation of Graphene*
*But were afraid to ask
International Conference The COINS 2024