Marco specialises in the development of novel hydrogels for three-dimensional cell culture and medical applications to understand synergistic mechanical responses of the cell matrix on cell behaviour.
Marco is a scientist with a passion for investigating how Nature designs systems to perform its most complex tasks. Arguably, one of these is the ability of individual cells to generate force and traction for driving cell locomotion in tissues. Cells have a tremendous ability to withstand mechanical stretching and compression; however, in spite of these mechanical challenges, cells remarkably resist and adapt to continue their movement. As a trained chemist, his versatility in understanding the fields of chemistry, soft condensed matter physics and biology has allowed me to enter the growing field of mechanobiology with the perception that, in order to understand Nature's most complex tasks, one must be able to understand Nature through a combination between these three scientific fields. He specialises in developing hydrogels derived from collagen, hyaluronic acid, nanocellulose, and of synthetic polymer origin for three-dimensional cell culture and medical applications. He has experience in investigating mechanisms of motility by capturing cellular movement using high-resolution live-cell imaging with confocal microscopy (spinning-disk, laserscan, airyscan). His combined training in these three fields has enabled me to perform novel research in the field of mechanobiology, rapidly establishing interdisciplinary collaborations between cell biologists and chemists.