Professor Giuseppe Battaglia
Department of Biomedical Science
The University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TN
United Kingdom
Professor of Synthetic Biology
Room: F20 Firth Court building
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 2305
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 5945
email : g.battaglia@sheffield.ac.uk
I'm the Senior Lecturer in Bionanotechnology in the Department of Biomedical Science at the University of Sheffield. I'm interested in research problems that require a considerable understanding of biology to tackle clinical challenges via the development of new physical tools. We tackle this by studying the specific design rules behind inter/intra molecular interactions and self-assembly of soft matter systems, often taking inspiration from biological systems such as cells and viruses. We subsequently translate these rules into the engineering of nanostructured biomaterials. This involves the detailed biological and pharmacological evaluation of these novel functional polymers for applications that range from drug and gene delivery, diagnostic, to cell and tissue engineering.
History
Career
- 2011: GSK Emerging Scientist award
- 2011-present: Professor of Synthetic Biology
- 2009-2011: Dept. of Biomedical Science, The University of Sheffield - Senior Lecturer in Bionanotechnology
- 2006-2009: Dept. of Engineering Materials, The University of Sheffield - Lecturer
- 2001-2002: ICI Strategic Technology Group - Process Research Engineer
Education
- 2006: PhD in Physical Chemistry - The University of Sheffield
- 2001: "Laurea" in Chemical Engineering - The University of Palermo
Activities and Distinctions
- The 2011 PPG/DPOLY Polymer Exchange Lecture: awarded by American Physical Society –Division of Polymer Physics (DPOLY) and the Institute of Physics-Polymer Physics Group (PPG)
- 2010: Honourary treasurer of the Biological Physics Group of the Institute of Physics
- 2009: Member of the Biological Physics Committee of the Institute of Physics
- 2009 University of Sheffield Exceptional Contribution Award on the basis of sustained excellence.
- Two micrographs from our research have been selected for the exposition "Plasticity - 100 years of making plastics" that took place in the Science Museum in London from May 2007 to January 2008 (reported by The Times on May 19, 2007).
- Five papers from our research have been granted with the front cover:
Selected publications
- A. Blanazs, J. Madsen, G. Battaglia, A. J. Ryan and S. P. Armes
Mechanistic Insights For Block Copolymers Morphologies: How Do Worms Form Vesicles?
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011 in the press - R. J. Mead, E. Bennet, P. Sharp, A. Kennerly, C. Sunyach, P. Kasher, J. Berwick, B. Pettmann, G. Battaglia, M. Azzouz, A. Grierson, P. J. Shaw
Optimisation of pre-clinical pharmacology studies in the SOD1G93A transgenic mouse model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
PLoS One 2011 in the press - C. LoPresti, M. Massignani, C. Fernyhough, A. Blanazs, A. J. Ryan, J. Madsen, N. J. Warren, S. P. Armes, A. L. Lewis S. Chirasatitsin, A.
Engler, G. Battaglia.
Controlling polymersomes surface topology at the nanoscale by membrane confined polymer/polymer phase separation.
ACS Nano 2011, 5 (3),1775–1784 - C. Murdoch, K. J. Reeves, V. Hearnden, H. Colley, M. Massignani, I. Canton, J. Madsen, A. Blanazs, S. P. Armes, A. L. Lewis, S. MacNeil, N.
J. Brown, M. H. Thornhill and G. Battaglia.
Internalization and biodistribution of polymersomes into oral squamous cell carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo.
Nanomedicine 2010, 5, 1025-1036. - M. Massignani, I. Canton, T. Sun, V. Hearnden, S. MacNeil, A. Blanazs, S. P. Armes, A. Lewis, and G. Battaglia.
Enhanced fluorescence imaging of live cells by effective cytosolic delivery of probes.
PLoS One 2010, 5 (5) e10459 - M. R. Gill, J. Garcia-Lara, S. J. Foster, C. Smythe, G. Battaglia and J. A. Thomas.
A Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Complex for Direct Imaging of DNA Structure in Living Cells.
Nature Chem. 2009 1, 662 - 667 - M. Massignani, C. LoPresti, A. Blanazs, J. Madsen, S. P. Armes, A. L. Lewis and G. Battaglia.
"Controlling cellular uptake by surface chemistry, size and surface topology at the nanoscale”
Small 2009, 5 (21), 2424 – 2432 - J.R. Howse, R.A.L. Jones, G. Battaglia, R. Ducker, G. Leggett and A.J. Ryan.
Templated Formation of Giant Polymer Vesicles with Controlled Size Distributions.
Nature Mater. (2009), 8, 507 - 511 (Front cover article) - H. Lomas, I. Canton, S. MacNeil, J. Du, S.P. Armes, A.J. Ryan, A.L. Lewis and G. Battaglia.
Biomimetic pH Sensitive Polymersomes for Efficient DNA Encapsulation and Delivery.
Adv. Mater (2007). 19, 4238–4243 - G. Battaglia and A.J. Ryan.
The evolution of vesicles from bulk lamellar gels.
Nature Mater. 4 (2005) 869–876 (Front Cover Article)