I graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Padova, Italy. After a postgraduate research placement funded by the European Oncolgy Institute of Milan working on PEGylation of avidin for tumour pretargeting, I joined the University of Vienna to investigate the mucoadhesive properties of thiolated chitosan.

I obtained my PhD from the University of Portsmouth, for my work on azopolymers for colonic drug delivery and became a lecturer at the same university in 2005. I am currently a Professor of Biomaterials in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences where I am investigating different biomedical applications of biomaterials from drug delivery, to anti-biofilm activity and tissue engineering.

My work on the chemical modification of chitosan has been recognised by the award of the International Association for Advanced Materials (IAAM) Scientist Medal in April 2023. I have recently been named on the Elsevier list of top 2% academics cited globally in 2022. I act as grant reviewer for international research councils in countries such as Poland, The Netherlands, Germany and Chile and have been appointed as panel member in the selection of grant awardees for the National Science Centre in Poland.

I work with a number of industrial partners on the development of tissue engineering scaffolds, characterisation of antimicrobial implant surfaces and the imaging of oral biofilm and quantification of its removal by different methods.

• Hydrogels for drug delivery and tissue engineering

• 3D printing of hydrogels

• Biomedical applications of carbon nanotube and silver nanowires

• Development of composite bioceramics

• Development of peptides drug delivery systems

• Bone and cartilage tissue engineering

• Visualisation and removal of oral biofilm