iBB

The project "UROPRINT: Urinary bladder bioprinting for fully autologous transplantation" has been recommended for funding by the EU. The goal of UROPRINT is to laser print fully functional immunocompatible urothelial tissue ex vivo and in vivo for bladder augmentation and replacement. The project is led by the Institute of Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens and involves iBB-SCERG, Asphalion SL, Institute of Comunication and Computer Systems, Optics11 BV and METATISSUE/JFCC-Biosolutions, LDA.

Photo details: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The project "SMART:New technologies and strategies for Stem cell Manufacturing bioprocess monitoring and ARTificial intelligence-based modeling" has been recommended for funding by FCT (2020 Call for SR&TD Project Grants). The goal of SMART is to develop new monitoring and modeling strategies envisaging more efficient bioreactor-based processes for the manufacturing of human induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived cardiomyocytes for biomedical applications, using artificial intelligence to integrate bioprocess monitoring data with biological data. The project, which falls within the scientific area of Chemical Engineering, is headed by Carlos Rodrigues from SCERG-iBB.

The project “Rapid, low-cost, low-complexity test for SARS-Cov-2 RNA detection” was approved for funding in the FCT call aimed at finding solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project, involving researchers from FFUL (João Gonçalves, PI of the project), IRS/DBE/IST (João Sanches), and iBB(BERG)/DBE/IST (Carla de Carvalho), will use a colourimetric assay, and image acquisition and analysis techniques, to rapidly evaluate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in human samples.

The project "DentalBioMatrix: Exploiting the power of decellularized extracellular matrix to fabricate hierarchical biomimetic scaffolds to regenerate functional periodontal tissues" has been recommended for funding by FCT (2020 Call for SR&TD Project Grants). The goal of DentalBioMatrix is to develop novel bioengineering strategies to regenerate periodontium, by engineering hierarchically designed compartmentalized systems to meet the different characteristics of the tissues involved in periodontal defects. Decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) will be used to create complex dECM-derived scaffolds to recreate the different niches of periodontium. Collectively, this approach will potentially provide the opportunity to harness the properties of periodontal tissue ECM, recreating a local niche at the tooth interface that can promote periodontal regeneration, especially important for osteoporotic and older patients with compromised ECM. The project, which falls within the scientific area of Medical Biotechnology, is headed by Marta Carvalho from SCERG-iBB.