Collaborative visits to our lab
The second half of 2025 saw a flurry of collaborative research visits by talented and enthusiastic doctoral researchers from Italy and Spain. These visits strengthened ongoing international collaborations and advanced several key research directions in our laboratory.
The visits of our Italian collaborators were supported by the European project HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-SE (Program Materials).
Daria Di Prisco from Prof. Luisa De Cola’s laboratory at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan worked on brain and lung targeting of novel nanomaterials using homing peptides developed in our lab. In collaboration with our doctoral candidate Kristina Põsnograjeva, she optimized affinity-targeting conditions for her nanoformulations and performed proof-of-concept in vitro and in vivo targeting and biodistribution studies. We look forward to welcoming Daria back next spring to further build on these promising results.
Simone Brannetti from Prof. Francesco Ricci’s laboratory at Tor Vergata University in Rome worked with our PhD candidate Jhalak Sethi on homing-peptide targeting of DNA nanotubes. This foundational work is now being finalized for publication.
Our visitor from Spain, Pablo Castillo-Sanchez from Dr. Marta Martinez-Vicente’s laboratory at Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital, focused on peptide-guided precision delivery of nanocomplexes for enzyme replacement therapy. He optimized targeting conditions and generated in vivo proof-of-concept data demonstrating the targetability of these nanocomplexes, opening exciting opportunities for further translational development.
Overall, we greatly enjoyed these visits both in- and outside the lab. Such exchanges are critical for accelerating innovation and generating high-quality collaborative science.
