Outreach

La comunità accademica italiana si conferma protagonista nel panorama della ricerca irlandese. L’Ambasciatore d’Italia a Dublino, Nicola Faganello, ha partecipato a una cerimonia presso la Dublin City University (DCU), che ha messo in luce l’eccellenza e l’impatto del lavoro di importanti studiosi italiani attivi in Irlanda.

Professor Silvia Giordani, Chair of Nano materials at Dublin City University, is developing bio-inspired carbon-based nanoplatforms to deliver cancer drugs more precisely. With her team at DCU’s School of Chemical Sciences, Prof Giordani describes the potential of nanotechnology to transform the fight against aggressive cancers like glioblastoma, breast and pancreatic cancer whilst reducing side effects, and improve treatment outcomes.

Il metodo di somministrazione del farmaco basato sulla nanotecnologia utilizzato e sviluppato da Giordani consente, infatti, di somministrare una maggiore quantità di farmaco direttamente al ‘bersaglio’, con minori danni collaterali alle cellule sane circostanti.

Nanotechnology drug delivery could mean faster treatments and reduced hair loss, nausea and fatigue

Hugh Mohan, a final-year PhD student in the Giordani Group, delivered an exceptional presentation at the DCU Tell It Straight Final on March 5th and earned the Runner-Up Prize. His PhD research focuses on using boron and nitrogen-doped carbon nano-onions as nanocarriers to enhance breast cancer therapy.

Warm welcome Francesco to the Giordani group! Francesco joins us from the University of Montpellier where he carried out 4 years postdoctoral research on the discovery and optimisation of bioactive molecules targeting DNA and histone methyltransferases, relevant epigenetic players in cancer development and progression.

Yingru Zhou has been awarded Research Ireland’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme scholarship, partnered with Breakthrough Cancer Research. The project, EPSPG/2024/1846, titled Modulation Of carbon Nanoparticles for pAncReatic Cancer tHerapy (MONARCH), aims to enhance cancer treatment by developing drug delivery systems for more precise and efficient targeting of cancer cells.

Professor Silvia Giordani’s portrait features on the University of Montpellier’s website. She is currently a MAK’IT (Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions) visiting fellow at the University of Montpellier, with the aim to extend the applications of carbon nano-onions into the energy sector.

Prof. Silvia Giordani gave a plenary lecture on “Tailoring Carbon Nanoparticles for drug delivery” on the 12th of December 2024 at the SNAIA-CRISTMAS (Conference on Research and Innovations in Science and Technology of Materials) 2024 Conference in Paris, France.

On October 24th, 2024, Michał Bartkowski graduated with a PhD in Chemistry, marking a significant achievement in his academic journey. In addition, Michał was honoured with the Faculty of Science and Health Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award.