Dr Gianluca Cidonio is a research scientist and a bioengineer, graduated (BSc and MSc) in Biomedical Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome.
He was found successful recipient of a bioengineering scholarship to study at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA, USA) during his last year of graduate studies. He worked as a student in the Suh lab (Temple University) generating new cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) for the delivery of drug cargos within living cells.
In 2015, Gianluca joined the Bone and Joint Research Group led by Prof Richard Oreffo at the University of Southampton. Gianluca focused on the study of 3D bioprinting technologies to guide skeletal tissue regeneration. He worked extensively on the development of novel nanocomposite bioinks (e.g. using clay nanoparticles) for the printing of living human bone marrow stromal cells and the regeneration of bone tissue. He developed expert skills in building and analysing engineered tissue-like implants both in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo. In 2018, he defended his PhD thesis in tissue engineering and got his first fellowship (EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship) to develop multiple research projects for the fabrication of functional constructs using novel bone extracellular matrix material.
Dr Cidonio joined the Center for Life Nano Science (CLNS) in IIT in late 2019, to work on a novel microfluidic-bioprinting technology for the fabrication of complex and physiological tissue substitutes. Dr Cidonio continues to explore new avenues for the regeneration of musculoskeletal tissue in IIT. At CLN2S, he is engineering new microfluidic printheads to drive the regeneration and the modelling of other tissues (e.g., brain, spinal chord, muscle, retina). In 2020, Dr Cidonio was found the successful recipient of the prestigious AIRC "ALDI" Fellowship to generate a novel 3D printed model capable of recapitulating the homing potential of breast cancer metastasizing to the bone. In 2023 Dr Cidonio received the ON Kick-Starter Grant to work on the engineering of a meniscal substitute using 3D microfluidic bioprinting technology.
Dr Cidonio is now focusing on using his expertise in 3D bioprinting cellularised constructs to engineer new bioprinters to fabricate implants capable of mimicking the tissue interface and imitating debilitating diseases for drug screening purposes.