Candidates for the ETPN Executive Board 2025-2027

CEO & Founder/ Nanobiotix
Apr 2003 - Present · 22 yrs 2 mos
Greater Paris Metropolitan Region

Nanobiotix was founded with a question: “Can we manipulate the properties of a cell without touching it?” Even then we believed that treatment outcomes could be significantly improved by bringing nanophysics to the heart of the cell. Today, Nano has applied this concept to its lead product, NBTXR3, and is poised to help millions of patients around the world. Our focus is developing the product across oncology so we can help beat cancer for good.
NASDAQ-listed: NBTX and EURONEXT-listed: NANO

President and Co-founder/ Curadigm
Jan 2019 - Jan 2025 · 6 yrs 1 mo
Greater Paris Metropolitan Region

The Curadigm “nanoprimer” technology platform was invented thanks to the expertise we gained in the development of NBTXR3. The product transiently occupies the liver, allowing more therapeutics to pass through and reach their targets. We see a future where Curadigm changes the balances of toxicity and efficacy for many different therapeutics, ultimately providing better outcomes for patients.
Learn more at our website: [Curadigm Website](https://www.curadigm.com/)

President of Supervisory Board/ VALBIOTIS
Mar 2017 - Dec 2024 · 7 yrs 10 mos

Part of the exceptional team striving to create a zero diabetes world. VALBIOTIS is a Research & Development company committed to preventing and combating metabolic diseases with scientific innovation.
Learn more at our website: [VALBIOTIS Website](https://www.valbiotis.com/)

Founding Member/ HealthtechTAB - Healthtech Translation Advisory Board
Jun 2014 - Sep 2019 · 5 yrs 4 mos

The Nanomedicine Translation Advisory Board is a service that has been designed as the prime initiative to help the European nanomedicine community not to get lost in translation.
Learn more at our website: [Nanomedicine Translation Advisory Board](http://www.nanomedtab.eu)

Vice Chairman of Executive Board/ European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine (ETPN)
Dec 2012 - May 2019 · 6 yrs 6 mos

When we founded Nanobiotix, we knew that we had the benefit of being a first mover. Yet we also knew our technology was so different that it might be difficult for legacy healthcare institutions to help us reach industrial scale. Treating millions of patients requires more than just a great product. It requires the infrastructure both within the company and the external environment to bring the product to market. To tackle this problem, I was proud to serve as Vice President of the European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine. During my time there, we were able to develop models like the Nanomedicine Translation Hub—providing mentorship, characterization support and manufacturing guidance to help nanomedicine companies like Nanobiotix scale their operations. The EU has been so pleased with our program that it is planning to use the model for all healthcare sciences in Europe. We’re excited to see how this evolves in 2020 and beyond.
Learn more at our website: [European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine](https://etp-nanomedicine.eu/)

Consultant/ ALTRAN TECHNOLOGIES
2000 - 2003 · 3 yrs

Consulted with companies like Sanofi, Rhodia and L’Oreal on approaches to apply nanotechnology to new markets.

Associate Researcher/ University at Buffalo
1999 - 2000 · 4 yr

PhD, Nanotechnologies/ University Pierre et Marie Curie / CEA Saclay
1994 - 1998 · 4 yr

Lorena Diéguez is the leader of the Medical Devices research group at INL. Her research is mainly devoted to Translational Medical Research in close collaboration with hospitals and focuses on the development of tools and solutions based on microfluidics, biosensors and nanotechnology towards early diagnosis and better understanding of diseases.

Besides being Research Group Leader, Dr. Diéguez is also the Chair of the Research Board at INL, and member of the Executive Committee of INL since 2024. Lorena is also Chair of the Working Group in Medical Devices at the European Technology Platform in Nanomedicine (ETPN) and member of the board since 2019. She is also very interested in translating her technology from the lab to the clinic and is co-founder and CEO of the spin-off company RUBYnanomed in the field of liquid biopsy.

She obtained her Bachelors in Physics with Major in Optoelectronics at the University of Santiago de Compostela in 2005, then completed her Masters in Nanotechnology at the University of Barcelona (UB) in 2007 and her PhD in biosensors at the UB, the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia and the ETH Zürich. Her postdoc at the University of South Australia (2010-2013) was devoted to the study of rare cells from biological samples using microfluidics. Lorena joined INL in 2014 as Staff Researcher, before being promoted to Research Group Leader in 2018.

She has published over 56 peer-reviewed research articles and reviews, 2 book chapters, and has participated in 35 national and international research projects, 25 of them as PI or co-PI, and 5 of them as coordinator, raising in total over 18 M€ since 2014. She has also authored 6 patents, and been invited, keynote or plenary speaker in over 60 international conferences. Lorena has been recipient of several international research and innovation awards, and was finalist of the prestigious European Prize for Women Innovators in 2022.

Furio Gramatica is Director of Development & Innovation at Don Gnocchi Foundation, where he formerly managedtechnological research and founded the Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION). Previously,he spent several years at CERN, in Geneva and in high-tech companies, with research, development and innovationmanagement roles. He has twenty years of experience as an expert for the European Commission in the field ofhealth technologies, in models of cooperation between the parties involved in the ecosystem of health technologiesand in value-based healthcare.

Since November 2005,  Giovanni Tosi has been a researcher in the scientific field of Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, part of the Faculty of Pharmacy). Since 2015, he has been an associate professor in the same field. He obtained his full professorship certification in 2017 and has been a full professor since 2020. He was born in 1977 (March 2nd) in Bologna, Italy, and graduated in Pharmacy in 2002 with top marks (110/110). He obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2005 at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.

He has served as coordinator of the "Applied Technology" curriculum for the PhD School in Health Products, member of the Instruments Committee of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ILO Contact Person for the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (research products), representative of the same department in the Central Committee for Animal Breeding and the Research Committee of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. He is currently Director of the Specialization Program in Hospital Pharmacy and director of PhD Programme HIP TECH at UNIMORE and involved in the coordination of Spoke 1 of the National Center for RNA-based Drugs for Rare Diseases.

He has been scientific delegate for international cooperation and coordinator of the UNIMORE Nanomedicine Platform since 2017, Vice President of the WG Nanotherapeutics in the European Technology Platform for Nanomedicine since 2019, and is currently the secretary of the ETPN. Moreover, he coordinates since 2025 the Italian Nanomedicine Platform.

His research activity focuses on the development of lipid and polymer systems for drug delivery and targeting to diseased tissues or cells. His work in nanomedicine for drug and gene delivery and targeting has received national awards (La Manna Award for the thesis he supervised, 2005), international recognition (Jorge Heller Outstanding Paper Award, 2005), and innovation awards (AFI2005, AFI 2006).

His research on nanoparticles for drug delivery to the central nervous system was recently recognized as a hot topic (150 selected studies out of over 19,000 proposals) at the World Neuroscience Meeting (Society for Neuroscience) in Washington DC, November 2011, and again in New Orleans, November 2012.

He is the author or co-author of more than 100 publications in international journals and has given over 200 presentations (invited speaker, oral presentations, and posters) at national and international conferences. He has participated as collaborator or project leader in several Italian and international projects supported by the Italian Ministry of Research, IMI projects, Euronanomed grants, Ministry of International Cooperation projects, and POR FESR projects.

He currently collaborates with a broad network of scientists in the field, as evidenced by the international co-authorship in his publications, and with many national and international companies (e.g. Chiesi, Pfizer, Sanofi, Gilead Sciences, Biomarin). He serves as a reviewer for major journals in nanotechnology and nanomedicine such as Journal of Controlled Release, Biomaterials, Nanomedicine, and many other journals in the fields of nanotechnology, drug delivery, and nanomedicine. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of several international journals.

Recent years projects

• 2017–2022: Telethon grant – Targeting neurons with cholesterol. How can it change the future of Huntington Disease patients
• 2017–2022: Cariparo Pediatric Research Grant – Pediatric neurodegenerative disorders: optimizing nanoparticle-mediated strategy for brain treatment
• 2018–2023: IMI EU Grants – Investigating Mechanisms and Models predictive of accessibility of therapeutics (IM2PACT) into the brain
• 2019–2023: High-Relevance Scientific and Technological Research Projects, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy-USA Projects – Nanomedicine for BBB-crossing in CNS oncologic pathologies
• 2019–2022: PORFESR Projects – Mat2Rep, Multifunctional Biomaterials for Regeneration in Traumatic Brain Injury
• 2020–2023: EuroNanoMed Grant – Silk-fibroin interventional nano-trap for the treatment of glioblastoma
• 2020–2023: Vinci PhD Grant – Nanomed for Glioblastoma Treatment
• 2021–2023: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation – Optimization of nanoparticle-mediated brain delivery of a tetracationic porphyrin with potent anti-prion activities
• 2022–2025: CN3 National Center for Gene Therapy and RNA-based Drugs – Spoke 1: Genetic Diseases
• 2022–2025: CN3 National Center for Gene Therapy and RNA-based Drugs – Spoke 2: Cancer
• 2022–2025: HEAL ITALIA (Health Extended ALliance for Innovative Therapies, Advanced Lab-research, and Integrated Approaches of Precision Medicine) – Spoke 6: Development of innovative devices for precision diagnosis and personalized therapy

Ana Paula Pêgo (FBSE) got her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, in 2002. In 2003 she moved to INEB - Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica. Already with tenure, in 2012 she became a Principal Investigator founding the nanoBiomaterials for Targeted Therapies (nBTT) Group in 2014, later integrated into i3S in 2015. In 2023, she was promoted to Coordinating Researcher. Since 2019 she serves as Vice-Director of i3S, being the Head of Strategy & Creation of Value.

The nBTT group aims to develop "smart" biomaterials, designed at the nanoscale with controlled architectures and functionalities, to provide in situ and in a targeted manner the required signals to promote nervous tissue repair and restoration of function. Main objectives include:

a) the design of (nano)biomaterials to probe and/or induce specific cellular/tissue responses;

b) evaluation in vitro, ex-vivo and in vivo of the biological performance of the developed (nano)biomaterials;

c) the development of in vitro models to dissect biological mechanisms and test new therapeutic targets.

Three strategies are being followed: i) development of materials for preparation of cellular grafts to be used in nerve defect correction; ii) development of biomaterial-based nanoparticles (vectors) for nucleic acid delivery; and iii) the design of tissue engineered platforms for testing drugs and molecules for tissue regeneration/repair and drug targeting.

Emphasis is given to the application of both in vitro and in vivo bioimaging tools to assess the potential of the developed strategies and a number of techniques/methods have been established at the nBTT in order to pursue the above-mentioned strategies: i) synthesis and characterization of synthetic polyesters and polycarbonate materials; ii) synthesis and functionalization of biodegradable dendrimers; iii) functionalization of chitosan, chitosan scaffolds and chitosan-based nanoparticles; iv) methods of preparation and characterization of nanoparticles based on polycations and nucleic acids (DNA, siRNA, AON, mRNA); v) primary cultures of neurons (cortical neurons, hippocampal neurons, DRG explants and dissociated cultures), astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes; vi) cultures of neural and neural stem cell lines; vii) organotypic brain cultures; viii) clinically relevant in vivo models of nerve regeneration.

Societal and ethical issues that concern Regenerative Medicine and NanoMedicine are also topics in which Ana Pêgo is involved. Pêgo participated in a total of 54 projects (FCT, CRUP, ANI, EU, INFARMED, AFOSR and Private Foundations: SCML, SCMP, La Caixa), being the PI in 17. As a result, she secured a total of 2,3M euros in projects where she was PI and 6.9M euros in projects where she was a team member. These figures exclude competitive Marie Curie Individual Grants, as well as PhD, post-doc, or CEEC contracts from FCT.

She has mentored 6 post-doctoral fellows, supervised 19 completed PhD theses, and overseen 47 MSc theses. Currently, she supervises 8 PhD students (1 with EU Marie Curie Grants obtained through EU-funded Doctoral Networks), and 3 MSc students. She has published 103 articles in peer reviewed international journals and 10 book chapters. Has 5 patents registered (2 licensed).

Organized/chaired 16 scientific events, including the 31st Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB) in 2021 (Porto, Portugal). She has been appointed the Scientific Director of the Bioimaging Centre for Biomaterials and Regenerative Therapies of INEB and she is an Invited Associate Professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto.

Ana Paula Pêgo has been member of the Board of Reviewing Editors of Science (AAAS) from 2021 to 2024, she is an Associate Editor of Biomaterials and Ex-Oficio President of the ESB (has been President between 2021-23).

Dr. Marzia Bedoni (MB), female, born 10/07/1977 at Milan, is senior scientist and Head of Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Clinical Biophotonics (LABION: www.labion.eu) in FDG since 2018.

MB graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan where she obtained also her PhD in Morphological Sciences (2007). She carried out her Post-Doc in FDG granted by the Cariplo Foundation, Seed Capital and FP7 call and became permanent researcher in 2011.

MB is expert in several fields of research: i) biophotonics application for diagnosis and therapy monitoring in neurodegenerative diseases (AD,  ALS, PD), respiratory diseases like COPD, Asthma and SARS- CoV2; ii) nano-biophotonics for the characterisation of extracellular vesicles as diagnostic and regenerative rehabilitation markers; iii) nanoparticles for brain disease therapy like AD and glioblastoma.

She is member of the Leadership Council of the International Consortium for Regenerative Rehabilitation (founded by University of Pittsburgh, Stanford University and Mayo Clinic), Chair of the Clinical Translation and Social Impact Group in the European Technology Platform of Nanomedicine and Founding Member of Italian Society for Extracellular Vescicle (EVITA). Vice- President of Professional Association of Biology in Lombardy Region (Italy) and Secretary of National Federation of Orders of Biologists.

MB is also member and past board-member (2012-2017) of Society for Cutaneous Ultrastructure Research, member of European Society for Dermatological Research and Società Italiana di Anatomia e Istologia.

MB is Adjunct Prof Human Anatomy, Adjunct Prof Physiology, Adjunct Prof Epidemiology  for University of Milan (since 2010). She is supervisor of PhD candidates of University of Milan, University of Brescia and University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and several undergraduates.

Principal Investigator of several national and international projects as recently:

MB is author of several peer-reviewed scientific papers and she is co-inventor of 5 patents on diagnosis device, diagnostic method and on transdermal therapeutic device.

Complete List of Published Work in:

Orcid Author ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2618-3661

Scopus Author ID: 8846231900

SciProfiles: 1378590

She received several awards during international congresses for her studies.

I am a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), where I founded the Bionano Lab, a multidisciplinary research group studying different aspects of nanosafety and nanomedicine. In particular, my group studies the importance of the biomolecules' interaction with the nanoparticle surface, which is relevant for nanomedicine applications, diagnosis, and toxicology.

https://bionanolabgroup.wordpress.com

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V6fGFMwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

As a former coordinator of NanoCarb, an MSCA Doctoral Training Network Grant, and several other EU projects, I enjoyed interacting with young researchers to provide training and promote their network. Since then, I have often been involved in training activities in Europe.

Joana A. Loureiro is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto. She graduated in chemical engineering - specialization in biotechnology (thesis project developed at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, US, 2010), followed by a master‘s in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2018). Upon completing her PhD in 2013, she was awarded a post-doctoral grant under an international project, where she worked from 2014-2019 in the development of nanoparticles for biomedical applications. She has been working as a researcher at the Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy (LEPABE) since 2010, while also holding an Invited Assistant Professor position at FEUP since 2018. Her academic trajectory includes a junior researcher position (CEEC – from FCT) awarded in 2019, becoming an integrated member of the LEPABE, which brought her more independence, and in 2022, with an assistant researcher position at the same lab. Furthermore, in 2023, she attained a CEEC individual position as an Auxiliary Researcher.

Recenlty she co-founded the BNanoTech startup. BNanoTech main activity is the development and commercialization of an innovative nanoparticle-based technology designed to deliver drugs directly to the brain.

Her previous research experience has given her strong skill sets to develop interdisciplinary research at the highest level. For the last 10 years, she has been investigating in the field of:
- bionanotechnology by developing drug delivery systems (lipid-based and polymeric) for neurological disease treatment and other health applications;
- nanostructured biomaterials for the development of biocompatible medical devices;
- the mechanisms of protein misfolding and pathogenic biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson´s disease;
- nanomaterials (specifically nanoparticles) surface modification to induce the targeting of those materials in specific tissues;
- biomembrane mimetics models for the evaluation of the drugs and cell membrane interaction.

She is/was involved in several projects (>17), including 4 as PI, and she has been in active collaboration with several national and international research groups (US, France, Germany, Spain, etc.). In 2017, she was awarded by Fulbright, which allowed her to start a collaboration at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) in Houston. After starting her PhD research, she did 2 international scientific internships, one at UTHealth, US, and one at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
She has contributed significantly to over 70 publications in refereed books and journals (17 as 1st author and 23 as corresponding), most in top journals (96% Q1). One of them has been published in the Top 5% of SCImago Journal & Country Rank, and several in the Top 5% and 10% journals in Scopus. These publications' scientific impact and quality have given more than 3000 citations and an h-index of 26, being cited in scientific papers for several top journals, such as Nature Reviews Neuroscience and Small. She presented her research at more than 70 national and international conferences (USA, England, Italy, France, Austria, Germany, etc.) with oral presentations and posters. In 2022 and 2023, she was listed in the “World’s Top 2% Scientists 2021 and 2022” by Stanford University, and in 2023, she received for the 3rd consecutive year the scientific merit award recognition by FEUP. In total, she has received 18 awards and recognitions for her scientific work.
In the last years, she successfully (co-)supervised 10 MSc, 2 PhD, and some other students from bachelor's degrees. Currently, she is a PhD advisor of 3 students and 10 MSc students. She has also become a member of post-graduation juries. She is an active member in organizing scientific events and soft skills workshops.

Pedro Silva is a senior technology transfer professional with 22 years of experience in the field. Raised 600+ million euros in research funding in the context of university - industry collaborations, managed 350+ patents, negotiated 70+ license agreements and supported the creation of 40+ startups. Pedro Silva is currently the Head of the Funding and Innovation Office at the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine, President of the Board of the Collaborative Laboratory AccelBio (focused on early stage drug discovery) and member of the board of Tessellate Bio and Targtex.

He served as a consultant to start-ups, SMEs, large corporations, and other public and private organizations in strategy, technology transfer, business development, innovation management, intellectual property, licensing, and fundraising. Member and coordinator of projects with European, National and regional funding. Participated as evaluator and expert in different EU funding programs and European Commission missions, respectively.

He was a former ETPN Board Member, responsible for the WG on Business Opportunities, under the leadership of Patrick Boisseau. During his mandate, he coordinated both the creation and implementation of the Nanomed Translation Advisory Board and HealthTech Translation Advisory Board that followed.