The course, which is mandatory for Bionanotechnology Career students and a free choice for the others, is held in the second year of the Master Degree. The final aim is to provide the student with basic biological knowledge of the mechanisms underlying diseases with a high social burden and challenging treatment (such as cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, chronic inflammation and infection, osteoporosis) and exploit them to learn advanced technologies to treat these diseases.

es At the end of the course, the student will have acquired the knowledge of the enabling technologies in the design of advanced tools treating challenging diseases. In detail, the student will have acquired: 1) KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING - Knowledge of the current clinical challenges and limits of available treatments. - General knowledge of in vitro models and of technologies to realize these systems. - Knowledge and understanding of gene therapy and its potential in medicine. - Knowledge of nanotechnology and of micro and nanostructured materials application in biomedicine. 2) CAPABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING - Skills in the development of highly technological approaches to treat challenging diseases. - Skills in the design of biomimetic or bioinspired system to reproduce human complexity. - Application of the acquired knowledge to engineer new solution and new material design in medicine.

- Basic knowledge of cell biology and physiology. - Basic knowledge of general chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, polymerization reactions. - Knowledge on biomaterials and bionanotechnology

1. THE BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND • Recalls of basic concepts of cell biology and physiology. Barriers in the human body: a special focus on endothelial and blood brain barriers. Stem cells and their potential in medicine • The immunoresponse. 2. ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR CLINICAL CHALLENGES WITH HIGH SOCIAL BURDEN: CANCER AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES • In vitro models as advanced strategies to study pathologies and test efficacy of novel drugs. • New genetic and stem cell therapy techniques to treat challenging diseases. • Mimicking the human complexity using organ-on-chip. 3. ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR UNSOLVED CLINICAL CHALLENGES: FROM BIOCOMPATIBLE TO MULTIFUNCTIONAL BONE DEVICES • Promoting physiological host response through surface functionalization. • Fighting bacterial adhesion and controlling inflammation by biomaterials. • Magnetic Biomaterials to treat pathological bone tissue: multifunctional materials from the macro to the nanoscale. • Bone remodeling: methods to characterize bone tissue, in vitro approaches to evaluate remodeling. Design of treatment solutions to prevent remodeling associated diseases. 4. TECHNOLOGIES AND SMART MATERIALS TO FIGHT CHRONIC, INFECTED WOUNDS, DELAYED BONE HEALING, OSTEOPOROSIS • Composite Nanomaterials and multifunctional scaffolds releasing ions/biomolecules and with specific functions (antibacterial, proosteogenic, antiosteoclastogenic, proangiogenetic), under external stimuli as well.

The course is organized in a series of lectures and practical exercises (case studies) that will be held in the classroom.

Slides and tutorials provided by the teacher and available through the website.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria;

The final exam will consist in a critical discussion of scientific text(s) (paper, review, book chapter) strictly related to the course topics. The text(s) has to be agreed with the teacher(s) and will be summarized and analysed in a public seminar (typically delivered with a slide presentation) by the single student (for max 10’) or groups of 2-3 students (each for max. 20’-30’). This will be followed by a discussion (with questions addressed to each student) that, starting from what is presented in the seminar, will cover the course topics. Overall duration of the exam will be 20’ and 40’-60’ for the single student and groups of 2-3 students, respectively.45’, The exam aims to verify including the following discussion with each student in which the degree of comprehension by concerning: - advanced cell biology and physiology and application in advanced cell therapies or in organ models design - enabling technologies (new materials, nanotechnologies, cell therapies) to meet unmet clinical challenges will be verified, together with the capability of applying this knowledge to specific case studies. During the exam, it will not be possible to consult tests, lecture material and notes, with the exception of the slides prepared for the presentation.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria;

The final exam will consist in a critical discussion of scientific text(s) (paper, review, book chapter) strictly related to the course topics. The text(s) has to be agreed with the teacher(s) and will be summarized and analysed in a public seminar (typically delivered with a slide presentation) by the single student (for max 10’) or groups of 2-3 students (for max. 20’-30’), delivered through the virtual classroom platform or in presence following the agreement between student(s) and teachers and complying with the safety rules in force. Students in the same group may opt for different means of delivery if necessary. The presentation will be followed by a discussion (with questions addressed to each student) that, inspired by what is presented in the seminar, will cover the course topics. Overall duration of the exam will be 20’ and 40’-60’ for the single student and groups of 2-3 students, respectively. The exam aims to verify the degree of comprehension concerning: - advanced cell biology and physiology and application in advanced cell therapies or in organ models design - enabling technologies (new materials, nanotechnologies, cell therapies) to meet unmet clinical challenges together with the capability of applying this knowledge to specific case studies. During the exam, it will not be possible to consult tests, lecture material and notes, with the exception of the slides prepared for the presentation. The grading of the exam will be implemented as follows: - Content of the presentation: up to 14 points - Quality of the presentation delivered: up to 10 points - Answers to questions: up to 6 points - Flipped Classroom bonus (optional): up to 2 points. All marks will be typically the average of the marks given by at least two different teachers. If 30 points are reached in this way the board of examiner might propose the "cum laude" if there is unanimity.