Tzanko Tzanov is a chemical engineer with an internationally-acquired experience in biochemical functionalisation of (bio)polymers for industrial and biomedical applications, nano(bio)technology, enzymatic synthesis, polymerisation and coating. After a Marie-Curie postdoctoral stay at the University of Minho (Portugal), he joined the UPC in 2004 as a Ramon y Cajal fellow with the ambition to create, from zero, a new applied biotechnology research line.  He built the first and still unique applied biotechnology group at UPC and its advanced research infrastructure, entirely with external funding. He has been Principal Investigator at UPC in numerous European and national research projects, and academia-industry technology transfer contracts, raising millions of funding for UPC. He was able to establish an original, independent, and sustainable research, internationally recognised for novelty and excellence.

Research interests

My research interests are to implement new bio-based or biomimetic technologies in high added value products, meeting the research with the industry and the market. The “bio” component is an integral part of my research – bio-tools (enzymes), bio-processes and bio-materials are used to design functional coatings and surfaces, cosmetic formulations, nano/micro drug delivery systems, medical and diagnostic devices, antimicrobial/antibiofilm strategies, bioactive and nano-enabled composite materials. I pretend to provide biotech alternatives for material development and improvement of manufacturing processes in terms of efficiency, environmental impact, energy consumption, and product performance working at the interface of biotechnology, materials science, life sciences, chemistry and polymer engineering.

Keywords

applied biotechnology, nano-technology, materials science, (bio)polymers, medical devices, diagnostics