New member Prof. Dr. Danijela Gregurec
Welcome to the newest FAU EAM member Prof. Dr. Danijela Gregurec
After her MSc degree in applied chemistry at the University of Zagreb (Croatia), Danijela started her PhD in 2011 at the biomaterials research center biomaGUNE (Spain) with Dr. Moya. Her primary focus was on the design of biocompatible and bioresponsive inorganic interfaces that resemble extracellular matrix. She used these materials to study how chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of the materials govern interactions with cells. Some of her approaches implemented controlled release of bioactive ions from the polymeric surfaces and reliance on bio-inspired substrate coatings. These systems in turn allowed mechanistic studies of cell-surface interactions and determination of constituents promoting cell-substrate interactions.
In 2014 as Marie Curie fellow she visited Prof. Azzaroni’s lab at the INIFTA (Argentina) to apply electrochemical characterization methods in studies of biopolymer coatings used in tissue engineering. Later that year she was invited at the ZIK HIKE (Germany) to work with Prof. Delcea on determination of nanomechanical properties of titania-based implant surfaces with atomic force spectroscopy.
In 2016 she joined the Prof. Anikeeva Bioelectronics Group at MIT (USA) to follow her fascination for neurobiology. Her work was focused on applying the biomaterials engineering to study and modulate the interactions with nervous system. Her favourite piece of work is development of a magnetomechanical neuromodulation technology that allows for nongenetic control of neuronal signalling in the peripheral nervous system. This technology allows for wireless activation of mechanosensory cells leveraging the force (torque) exerted from the magnetic nanodiscs (MND), specifically targeted to the mechanosensitive ion channels
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