Manuel is ICREA Research Professor at Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC). Manuel is a bioengineer working on advanced biomaterials for cell and tissue engineering, to develop in vitro models and as tools for mechanobiology. His group engineer materials to provide control of the local cellular microenvironment, both biochemically and biophysically. Manuel holds an ERC AdG to develop the next generation of viscoelastic materials to understand this important property of the extracellular matrix in the context of tissue regeneration. Manuel was Professor of Applied Physics in Valencia until his relocation to Glasgow in 2013 as Chair of Biomedical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy for Arts and Sciences.
Research interests
I engineer biomaterials for in vitro modelling, regenerative medicine and mechanobiology. I was awarded and ERC (Consolidator) Grant in 2012 to investigate materials that promote growth factor binding and their use in regenerative medicine (Science Advances 2016). I moved to Glasgow in 2013 where my team generated internationally leading outcomes and radical new concepts: the use of viscosity to control cell behaviour (PNAS 2018, Nat Comms 2024); living biomaterials (bacteria-based materials) for stem cell engineering (Advanced Materials 2018); the low dose use of BMP-2 for bone regeneration (Advanced Science 2019) and the relationship between material mechanics and metabolism (Nature Metabolism 2020). I am also a keen science communicator who participates in public engagement events (e.g. Science Summer Exhibition of the Royal Society).
Selected publications
– Barcelona-Estaje E, Oliva MAG, Cunniffe F, Rodrigo-Navarro A, Genever P, Dalby MJ, Roca-Cusachs P, Cantini M & Salmeron-Sanchez M 2024, ‘N-cadherin crosstalk with integrin weakens the molecular clutch in response to surface viscosity‘, Nature communications, 15 – 1 – 8824.
– Dhawan U, Williams JA, Windmill JFC, Childs P, Gonzalez-Garcia C, Dalby MJ, Salmeron-Sanchez M 2024, ‘Engineered Surfaces That Promote Capture of Latent Proteins to Facilitate Integrin-Mediated Mechanical Activation of Growth Factors‘, Advanced materials, 36 – 23 – – – .
– Rovers MM, Rogkoti T, Bakker BK, Bakal KJ, van Genderen MHP, Salmeron-Sanchez M & Dankers PYW 2024, ‘Using a Supramolecular Monomer Formulation Approach to Engineer Modular, Dynamic Microgels, and Composite Macrogels‘, Advanced materials, 36 – 50 – 2405868.