Engineering cell surfaces with synthetic polymers is a powerful approach for expanding the structural repertoire of cells, leading to control cell behaviour and function and providing living cells new properties which can be used to afford novel materials. We carry on fundamental as well as applied multidisciplinary research spanning polymer chemistry, materials science, biology, and medicine.
Our research is mainly focussed in three areas:
1. The development of functional monomers able to polymerise in a physiological environment (37 °C, air, PBS), yielding polymers capable of undergoing further functionalisation and providing access to novel, greener materials.
2. The establishment of efficient strategies for the introduction of polymeric structures at the cell surface to allow control over cell behaviour and function and provide access to cell-based therapies.
3. The design of cell-based degradable and recyclable materials.
Arno lab 