Samuel is an ICREA Professor and Group Leader at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), where he also serves as Deputy Director for Internationalization. He leads the Smart Nano-Bio-Devices group, with focus in self-powered nanorobots, nanomedicine, and biohybrid robotics. He has authored about 200 publications, with an h-index of 83 and over 23,000 citations, and 8 patents. Samuel is Founder and CSO of Nanobots Therapeutics, with the aim to drive the MotionTx platform for next-generation cancer treatments. He has received major awards, including the MIT TR35 Innovator of the Year (2014), Princess of Girona Award (2015), National Research Award for Young Talent (2016), RSEQ Scientific Excellence Award (2022), the Constantes y Vitales Award Young talent in Biomedicine (2023), CRS Award (2024) and La Vanguardia de la Ciencia (3rd)(2025). His work on Nanomotors appeared in National Geographic in October 2024.
Research interests
Samuel Sánchez is leader of the “Smart Nano-Bio-Devices” group, working in the multidisciplinary field of Nanosciences with interest in developing bio-hybrid robotics systems across different length-scales, from the nano- to the macroscale. Research interest spans from fundamental science of artificial active matter to translational approach of nanodevices to the clinic. 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 , 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
- Chen SQ, Fan DE, Fischer P, Ghosh A, Göpfrich K, Golestanian R, Hess H, Ma X, Nelson BJ, Padial TP, Tang JY, Villa K, Wang W, Zhang L, Sen A & Sánchez S 2025, 'A roadmap for next-generation nanomotors', Nature nanotechnology, 20 - 8 - 990 - 1000.
- Ruiz-González N, Esporrín-Ubieto D, Kim ID, Wang J & Sánchez S 2025, 'Micro- and Nanomotors: Engineered Tools for Targeted and Efficient Biomedicine', Acs nano, 19 - 9 - 8411 - 8432.
- Lin JW, Guan QX, Feng JQ, Chen SQ, Xu LL, Guan JG, Sánchez S 2025, 'Interactions Between Active Matters and Endogenous Fields', Advanced materials, 37 - 45 - e03091.
- Filippi M, Mock D, Fuentes J, Michelis MY, Balciunaite A, Paniagua P, Hopf R, Barteld A, Eng S, Badolato A, Snedeker J, Guix M, Sanchez S & Katzschmann RK 2025, 'Multicellular muscle-tendon bioprinting of mechanically optimized musculoskeletal bioactuators with enhanced force transmission', Science advances, 11 - 29 - eadv2628.
- Ju, XH et al. 2025, 'Technology Roadmap of Micro/Nanorobots', Acs nano, 19 - 27 - 24174 - 24334.
- Lin JW, Chen SQ, Lezcano F, Li ZS, Xu LL, Guan JG, Sanchez S 2025, 'Collective Dynamics of Urease-Based Nanomotors in a Chemical Gradient', Small, 21 - 31.
- Ruiz-González N, Sánchez-deAlcázar D, Esporrín-Ubieto D, Di Carlo V & Sánchez S 2025, 'Hyaluronic Acid-Based Nanomotors: Crossing Mucosal Barriers to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance', Acs applied materials & interfaces, 17 - 19 - 27988 - 27999.
- Fuentes J, Mestre R, Guix M, Esporrin-Ubieto D, Tribak IG, Ruiz-González N, Patiño T & Sánchez S 2025, 'Bioengineering fascicle-like skeletal muscle bioactuators via pluronic-assisted co-axial 3D bioprinting (PACA-3D)', Biofabrication, 17 - 3 -035018.
Padial TP, Chen SQ, Hortelao AC, Sen A, Sánchez S 2025, '- Swarming intelligence in self-propelled micromotors and nanomotors', Nature reviews materials, 10 - 12 - 947 - 963.
Selected research activities
1 patent filed
57 media appearances
invited talks
5 invited reviews including Nat. Rev. Mat., Nat. Nanotech, Adv. Mat. and ACS Nano