Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Dr. João Borges is a Senior Researcher at the Department of Chemistry and CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Porto in 2013. His research focuses on the molecular design, synthesis and development of bioinstructive supramolecular multicomponent biomaterials to interface with living systems. In particular, he has been developing chemically programmable and dynamic supramolecular hydrogels and Layer-by-Layer-driven soft self-assembling biomaterials by combining polysaccharides, self-assembling peptides and nucleic acids, to be used as bioinstructive matrices to control cell functions and as platforms for controlled drug/therapeutics delivery. He has served as a Guest Editor for Journal of Materials Chemistry B in 2024. He has been strongly committed to delivering a positive social impact by being invested in science communication, outreach, and policy and he has been connecting, supporting and empowering early-career scientists in advancing their professional development as a member of the Global Young Academy, Young Academy of Portugal of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN), and European Young Chemists’ Network. He is co-chair of the Global Conversation on Sustainability by IUPAC and the IYCN, and a National Representative of the IYCN Standing Committee at IUPAC.

What does it mean to you to join the Advisory Board of Journal of Materials Chemistry B?

I am truly honored and delighted to join the Advisory Board of the prestigious Journal of Materials Chemistry B, which publishes high quality research at the interface of materials chemistry, biology and medicine. The unique opportunity to join the Advisory Board will enable me to contribute further to the journal and to support the materials chemistry community by several means. Those include contributing with strategic advice, suggestions and recommendations to keep the high standards of quality of the journal, aiding in promoting and publishing impactful materials chemistry research, as well as in proposing themed collections (I am currently co-editing a themed collection) and perspective articles in the field, and helping in shaping the future directions and development of the journal by working closely with peer Editorial Board Members.

What is the current biggest challenge you face in your field?

 One of the biggest challenges for those working at the interface of materials chemistry, biology and medicine is still accelerating translational research by navigating the regulatory issues, i.e. bridging the gap between the lab research and the clinics towards benefiting society. The possibility to enable the translation of pioneering devices, technologies and advanced therapies at a faster pace that could improve the quality and life expectancy of citizens and reduce the healthcare costs is fundamental to address many pressing healthcare challenges that society faces and contribute to sustainable development.

In addition, as a young scientist, one of the major challenges we face is funding which is transversal to several fields and areas of research.

Why do you feel that researchers should choose to publish their work in Journal of Materials Chemistry B?

Journal of Materials Chemistry B is a truly reputable and widely read interdisciplinary forum for publishing cutting-edge research at the interface of chemistry, materials science, biology and medicine, which maximizes the visibility and impact of scientific research. One can publish a wide range of studies at the forefront of materials chemistry research, from a more fundamental science perspective on the design and synthesis of materials to their applications in biology and medicine. In addition, I also very much appreciate the professionalism and commitment of the editorial team, as well as the thoughtful and trustworthy peer-review process which undoubtedly helps to improve the quality of the science communicated by the authors and to increase its impact.

Can you tell us about one of your latest Journal of Materials Chemistry B publications?

 Our most recent publication was an original full paper published in 2023 on the development of marine-origin polysaccharides-based free-standing multilayered membranes as sustainable nanoreservoirs for controlled drug delivery. This manuscript emphasizes the synergistic use of sustainable marine-origin biopolymers, their chemical modification into water-soluble biopolymers at physiological pH, and their processing into robust biocompatible and biodegradable membranes/devices for controlled drug/therapeutics delivery by resorting to the green and cost-effective bottom-up layer-by-layer assembly nanotechnology. The proposed membranes represent promising sustainable nanocarriers for the encapsulation and sustained release of therapeutics in in vitro and in vivo scenarios, holding great promise to be used as implantable biomaterials for modular tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies. This manuscript is part of several themed collections, including Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigators and  2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Most Popular Articles. We are delighted that this manuscript has been well received by the materials chemistry community and has been gathering the attention of the readers of the journal.

Preeti Sati hails from the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. She completed her primary education in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, and completed her M.Tech degree from the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras under the supervision of Prof. S. Ramprabhu. Her M.Tech thesis is titled “Graphene wrapped carbon nanotube based nanofluids for thermal conductivity applications”. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. under Prof. Sri Sivakumar in the Material Science Programme department at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where she is working on “In vitro liver Models for drug screening and disease modelling.

Hung Quoc Tran is currently pursuing his PhD in Life Sciences at Université de Haute Alsace, supervised by Dr. Valeriy Luchnikov at IS2M and Professor Thierry Vandamme at CRBS, Université de Strasbourg. His research interests include drug delivery systems, biomaterials, and nanotechnology. His current research focuses on the application of interface modification methods and enzymatic crosslinked biomaterials to enhance drug delivery efficiency in transdermal therapeutic systems, gastroretentive systems, and bio-membrane filtration for medical devices. Previously, he spent several years as a researcher at Lam Dong Medical College, gaining extensive experience working on various projects involving the chemical and biological investigation of natural plants, as well as topical and cosmetic formulation. He obtained a PharmD in Vietnam in 2016 and Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Université Paris Cité in 2019

Krzysztof Kotewicz is currently working as a PhD student in Prof. Ergang Wang’s group at Chalmers University of Technology. His research focuses on conjugated materials for organic electronics, in particular light-emitting electrochemical cells.

Beforehand, he completed BSc Eng degree in chemical technology at Gdansk University of Technology in 2018, followed by a joint Nordic Five Tech Master degree in polymer technology at Technical University of Denmark and Chalmers University of Technology in 2021.

Krzysztof was awarded the poster prize sponsored by Journal of Materials Chemistry C for his poster entitled, ‘Acidochromic behavior of TFA-doped IDT-based conjugated polymers containing azo, imine and vinyl bonds’

Joost Kimpel is a PhD student at Chalmers University of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Christian Müller. Before his PhD, he was awarded a MChem in Chemistry from Oxford University (2019) followed by a MSci in Materials Science and Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology (2021). He currently works on the simplifying the synthesis of new polythiophenes bearing polar side chains for a variety of organic electronics applications.

Joost was awarded the presentation prize sponsored by Materials Horizons for his presentation entitled, ‘Synthetically Simple Organic Semiconductors for Thermoelectrics Prepared via Direct Arylation Polymerization’

Cathrine Abild Meyer is a PhD student at Aarhus University, Denmark, under the supervision of Prof. Brigitte Städler. She obtained her BSc (2019) and MSc degree (2022) in Nanoscience from Aarhus University, Denmark. During her undergraduate study, she gained experience in cell biology and synthetic biology while studying the interaction of polymer-lipid hybrid vesicles with astrocytes. Her current research focuses on the communication from mitochondria to the cell nucleus called mitochondrial retrograde signaling. In her research, she aims to create artificial minimal cells consisting of purified mitochondria and nuclei from donor cells encapsulated into hydrogel beads to study the mitochondrial retrograde signaling without interference from the complex network inside the mammalian cells.

Margarida Sacramento is a PhD student conducting her research within the COMPASS group at CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, under the supervision of Professor João Mano.

Her current research focuses on developing and characterizing adhesive biomaterials using naturally derived polymers and polyphenols for various biomedical applications, including in situ 3D printing. Prior to her doctoral studies, Margarida obtained her bachelor’s (2017) and master’s (2019) degrees in biotechnology from the same institution. During this period, she worked on improving the performance of magnetic quaternary chitosan nanoparticles for the removal of water pollutants.  Driven by the passion for science, Margarida aspires to pursue a future career likely at the interface of cellular biology and biomaterials science.

Joana Calvário is a Ph.D. student at Ana Pina’s Bioinspired Peptide Systems Lab, in ITQB-NOVA, Portugal. She has a Bachelor’s in biochemistry and a Master’s in biotechnology from NOVA School of Science and Technology, and her academic journey reflects an enduring curiosity about fundamental processes underlying biological systems. From utilizing bioinformatics in protein stability studies to enhancing electronic nose biosensors with Odorant Binding Proteins, Joana’s research path has been diverse. Fascinated by compartmentalization’s role in biochemical reactions, she now focuses her Ph.D. on understanding liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) in membraneless organelles, where she aims to unravel the molecular principles governing LLPS. Her research aims to create artificial functional compartments inspired by natural systems, shedding light on LLPS’s impact on the origin of proteins’ functions and enzymatic activity evolution. Joana’s ultimate goal is to make significant contributions to understanding LLPS dynamics in nature, offering novel insights into fundamental biological processes.