Giuseppe, or as most people call him, Beppe, is the Molecular Bionics group leader at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia. He graduated in Chemical Engineering (Palermo) and did his PhD in Soft Matter Physics (Sheffield). Beppe held positions in Sheffield (Assistant Professor 2006-2009, Associate Professor 2009-2011, and Full Professor 2011-2013)) and at University College London (Full Professor -2013-2023). Beppe's accolades include the HFSP Young Investigator Award in 2009, the APS/IoP Polymer Physics Exchange Award Lecture in 2011, the GSK Emerging Scientist Award in 2011, the Award for Special Contribution to Polymer Therapeutics in 2012, the RSC Thomas Graham Award Lecture in 2014, and the SCI/RSC McBain Medal for Colloid Science in 2015.
Research interests
Beppe oversees a multidisciplinary team comprising chemists, physicists, mathematicians, engineers, and biologists, collectively engaged in exploring the mechanisms underlying the trafficking of molecules, macromolecules, viruses, vesicles, and whole cells across physiological barriers within the human body. Using advanced microscopic tools and theoretical physics, they investigate biological transport from molecular to organism scales. This knowledge guides the development of innovative (nano)medicines, blending soft matter physics with synthetic chemistry. Beppe's group applies a constructionist approach, mimicking biological complexity to design functional units called Molecular Bionics, merging physical, engineering, and biomedical sciences.
Selected publications
- Acosta-Gutiérrez S, Buckley J & Battaglia G 2023, 'The Role of Host Cell Glycans on Virus Infectivity: The SARS-CoV-2 Case', Adv Sci. 10(1)2201853.
- Almadhi S, Forth J, Rodriguez-Arco L, et al. 2023, 'Bottom-Up Preparation of Phase-Separated Polymersomes', Macromolecular Bioscience, 23, 8, e2300068.
- Porro GM, Lorandi I, Liu X, Kataoka K, Battaglia G & Gonzalez-Carter D 2023, ”Identifying molecular tags selectively retained on the surface of brain endothelial cells to generate artificial targets for therapy delivery” Fluids Barriers CNS, 2023, 20, 88.