Research News

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Dr. Santos' research group and collaborators from Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Soochow University, and Xi'an Jiaotong University developed electrospun hydrogel fibrous scaffolds based on photocrosslinkable gelatin, which exhibit not only hydrogel properties, but maintain a micro three-dimensional (3D) space structure. The structure surpasses conventional hydrogels in promotion of 3D cell growth on and migration into the scaffolds and vascularization, and is good for repairing random skin flaps.

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Dr. Santos' research group presents the recent developments in the field of immunotherapy, describing the different systems proposed by categories: polymeric nanoparticles, lipid-based nanosystems, metallic and inorganic nanosystems and, finally, biologically inspired and derived nanovaccines.

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Dr. Santos' research group and collaborators from Harvard University developed a biocompatible double emulsion functionalized with gold nanorods, DNA origami, and porous silicon nanoparticles, as an advanced all-in-one platform for versatile targeted therapeutics and antibody co-delivery. This biocompatible platform can be easily formed with great therapeutics loading capacity and tunable ratio for different cancer treatments, and has great potential in advancing biomedical applications.

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Dr. Santos' research group and collaborators from Jiangsu University and Soochow University developed an antibacterial prickly Zn-doped CuO nanoparticle, in which, the multi-dimension nano-piercing process is found to contribute greatly to the enhanced antibacterial activity. Such architecture-enhanced antimicrobial feature gives more insights on the antibacterial mechanism of nanomaterials and also provides a hint on design of novel antibacterial agents.

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Dr. Santos' research group and collaborators from Harvard University developed a biodegradable, photothermally, and pH responsive calcium carbonate@phospholipid@acetalated dextran hybrid platform for advancing biomedical applications. The versatile, therapeutics co-loaded, photothermally, and pH responsive platform efficiently induces cancer cell death and synergistically reduces multidrug resistance and HER2 expression.

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Dr. Santos' research group and co-workers describe targeted theranostic nanoparticles with dual pH and magnetic responsive properties for intracellular delivery. Using a pH-switch nanoprecipitation method in organic-free solvents, a polymeric-drug conjugate solid nanoparticle containing encapsulated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and decorated with a tumor homing peptide, iRGD, are targeted to endothelial and metastatic cancer cells.

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Dr. Santos' research group and co-workers describe mucoadhesive and cell-associating porous silicon-based nanoparticles for oral delivery of insulin. Using a highly efficient top-down approach and simple crosslinking chemistry, porous silicon nanoparticles (NPs) are modified with L-cysteine- and cell-penetrating-peptides to enhance permeation of insulin across the intestine wall, through the close proximity to the intestinal epithelia.

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Dr. Santos' research group and co-workers describe a novel water soluble desferrioxamine-loaded hydrogel nanofibrous scaffold designed to rapidly recruit angiogenesis relative cells. The scaffold promotes the healing process of diabetic wounds through up-regulating Hif-1a and its downstream genes. Furthermore, the degradation rate of the scaffold is effectively corresponding with the closing rate of the wound, leaving enough space for new epidermis formation.

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Dr. Santos' research group and co-workers demonstrated nanoparticles with controlled quality and high throughput that are generated from a microcapillary device using a microfluidic nanoprecipitation approach. The successful preparation of a variety of nanoparticles demonstrates the versatility of this platform. Independently of the formulation parameters, nanoparticles with homogeneous size distribution can always be obtained, showing the great robustness of this platform.

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Dr. Santos' research group and co-workers fabricated a multistage drug delivery nanocomposite, comprising porous silicon nanoparticles and micellar pH-responsive polymers, by microfluidic nanoprecipitation. The drug-loaded multistage platform showed high cytocompatibility, pH-dependent cell growth inhibition capacity, and reduced internalization by phagocytic macrophage cells. This nanocomposite is a good candidate for further development as a platform for cancer drug delivery.

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Dr. Santos' research group and collaborators developed a multifunctional nanocarrier holding anti-diabetic drugs which slips right through the biological barriers along the gastrointestinal tract and delivers the medicine to the target site. The system can also enhance the nanoparticle's interactions with the intestinal mucus and epithelium, and protect the peptides from enzymatic degradation after the release in the intestine.

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Dr. Santos' research group and collaborators from Harvard University developed a nano-in-micro platform composed of porous silicon nanoparticles (PSi NPs) and giant liposomes (PSi NPs@giant liposomes) assembled on a microfluidic chip, which co-loaded and co-delivered hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs combined with synthesized DNA nanostructures, short gold nanorods, and magnetic nanoparticles. It was demonstrated that the PSi NPs@giant liposomes nano-in-micro platform hold great potential for a cocktail delivery of drugs and DNA nanostructures for effective cancer therapy, controllable drug release with tuneable therapeutics ratio, and both photothermal and magnetic dual responsiveness.

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Dr. Santos' and collaborators tested a gramicidin embedded biomembrane that interacts with dextran sulfate (DS) and demonstrated that these interactions affect drug transfer across the liquid–liquid interface. Langmuir–Blodgett and voltammetry techniques were used to study the interfacial and physicochemical properties of the system and a detailed characterization of the monolayers was presented, and the drug transfer was discussed as a result of the modified surface charge and compactness of the lipid in the presence of gramicidin, calcium and DS.

25 January 2017:  Post-doc, Dr. Vimalkumar Balasubramanian (Ph.D. Chem.), appointed docent (Adjunct Professor) at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki (Finland).

Many congrats. We are very proud of you!

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17 January 2017: "Superfast Production of Nanocomposites", highlighted in Chemistry Views.

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16 January 2017: Helsinki Challenge - Proud to be a member of the "Team POCKit": We want to put the power of diagnostics in the hands of the patients.

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January 2017: "Porous Silicon Nanovaccines Combat Cancer", highlighted in Advanced Science News.

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Dr. Santos together with Prof. Zhou (Aalto Univerity) received project funding from Academy of Finland for 2 years (2017-2018) to research on:

"Autonomous Microrobotics for Studying Cell-Particle Interactions and Responses"

December 2016: "Cancer Immunotherapy and Nanotechnology: Taking the Best from Two Worlds", highlighted in Advanced Science News.

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24 November 2016: Dr. HÉLDER A. SANTOS RECEIVES THE 2016 ACADEMY OF FINLAND AWARD FOR SOCIAL IMPACT

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October 2016: "PSi hits the spot - Hélder Santos’ research group is developing medicines of the future through microflows".

(Copyright © Yliopistolehti, University of Helsinki)

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October 2016: Chasing a precise pill - Nanotechnology is making drugs more precise. But how?

(Copyright © Yliopistolehti, University of Helsinki)

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September 2016 - Dr. Hongbo Zhang HONORARY MEMBER OF SANTOS' LAB

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June 2016 - Dr. BÁRBARA HERRANZ BLANCO HONORARY MEMBER OF SANTOS' LAB

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The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Bárbara Herranz Blanco (M.Sc. Pharm.) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 27.5.2016.

The thesis entitle "Multi-Approach Design and Fabrication of Hybrid Composites for Drug Delivery and Cancer Therapy". I am very proud to have been the main supervisor of Blanco's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Blanco's PhD thesis was Prof. Leigh Canham from PSiMedica Ltd, Malvern, UK & School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, UK, and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed

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APRIL 2016 - Dr. MOHAMMAD-ALI SHAHBAZI (OUR FORMER PhD STUDENT) AWARDED THE BEST THESIS OF UNIV. HELSINKI 2015 . MANY CONGRATS ALI!

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The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Neha Shrestha (M.Sc. Pharm.) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 1.4.2016.

The thesis entitle "Mesoporous Silicon Systems for Oral Protein/Peptide-Based Diabetes Mellitus Therapy". I am very proud to have been the main supervisor of Shrestha's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Shrestha's PhD thesis was Prof. Alejandro Sosnik from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (Israel), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed with honors/distinction

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March 2016 - Dr. MOHAMMAD-ALI SHAHBAZI NOMITAED THE 1ST HONORARY MEMBER OF SANTOS' LAB

22.4.2015

Dr. Dongfei Liu, post-doc in our research group, was awarded with the outstanding best doctoral thesis of the University of Helsinki in 2014, for its highest and outstanding research quality.

The monetary award was given in hand by the vice-rector of the University of Helsinki by occasion of at The Annual Celebration of The University of Helsinki Funds.

This is one the rare times such awarded is given to a doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Pharmacy. This is again an excellent achievement by our research group, and a prize for the high quality work!

It was a fantastic pleasure to have been Liu's main supervisor of his thesis together with Prof. Dean Jouni Hirvonen.

We are all extremely proud of Dongfei and his academic accomplishments. Outstanding job and the greatest congratulations to you.

Terrific work and enjoy this great moment!

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The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Chang-Fang Wang (M.Sc. Chem.) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 2.3.2015.

The thesis entitle "Chemical Surface Modification of Porous Silicon Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy". I am very proud to have been the main supervisor of Wang's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Wang's PhD thesis was Dr. Luca de Stefano from the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems Unit of Naples-National Research Council (Italy), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed

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The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Mohammad-Ali Shahbazi (M.Sc. Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 13.2.2015.

The thesis entitle "Effect of Surface Chemistry on the Immune Responses and Cellular Interactions of Porous Silicon Nanoparticles" is now the fastest doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Pharmay, finalized in less than 3 years (2 years and 7 months). I am extremely proud to have been the main supervisor of Shahbazi's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Shahbazi's PhD thesis was Prof. Ijeoma Uchegbu from the University College London (UK), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed with honors/distinction

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Our group is very proud to be part of this fantastic project and awesome collaborative consortium - The 3iRegeneration project!

Check what we awesome research will do in within this project in here!

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I am extremely proud and happy to endorse our many congratulations to our student Mohammad-Ali Shahbazi for receiving on 14th of January 2015 The Best Young Researcher of Pharmaceutical Sciences worth of 3000 EUR in The 20th Razi Medical Sciences Research Festival, in Tehran, Iran.

This event celebrates the country's leading scholars and researchers inside and outside the region and ISESCO Member States to introduce the premier medical research, with emphasis on aspects of innovation.

This award is a result of Ali's great research work in our lab.

We are all very proud and happy for your fantastic achievement!

On behalf of all members of Santos' Lab, very many congrats!

December - Dr. Santos was nominated for the World Portuguese Network as Adviser for the area of Science. Over the past years Dr. Santos has contributed tremendously for the promotion and increase of the Portuguese Scientific community working at and visiting the University of Helsinki, Finland.

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The doctoral dissertation of PhD candidate Dongfei Liu (M.Med Pharmacy) took place at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland, on 29.8.2014.

The thesis entitle "Porous Silicon-Based Multicomposites for Controlled Drug Delivery" is now the fastest doctoral thesis at the faculty of Pharmay, finalized in less than 3 years (2 years and 10 months). I am extremely proud to have been the main supervisor of Liu's PhD thesis!

The Opponent of Liu's PhD thesis was Prof. Bruno Sarmento from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (INEB), University of Porto (Portugal), and the Custos was Prof. Jouni Hirvonen, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Helsinki.

Final grade: Approved/passed with honors/distinction

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REWARD BY THE FACULTY OF PHARMACY (UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI) FOR THE EXCEPTIONALLY PRODUCTIVE RESEARCH WORK OF Dr. SANTOS AND HIS RESEARCH GROUP

November - The Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, has decided to reward Dr. Santos for his exceptionally productive research work in 2014. "Dr. Santos' publications (> 29) have significant impacted the outcome of the Faculty of Pharmacy in 2014", the Dean wrote!

Many congratulations to all in Santos' lab!

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GRANT AWARD - Dr. HONGBO ZHANG

October - The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation has awarded a € 283.000 grant for Dr. Hongbo Zhang's research project about "Porous silicon-based multifunctional nanoshuttle for targeted intracellular drug delivery". The grant is for three years. Many congratulations to Dr. Zhang for this fantastic grant!

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OUTSTANDING ORAL DRUG DELIVERY PAPER AWARD

July - Dr. Hongbo Zhang (post-doc in our research group), will receive the "Outstanding Oral Drug Delivery Paper Award" at the 41st Annual Meeting & Exposition of the Controlled Release Society to be held in Chicago, USA (July 13-16).

Many congratulations to Zhang et al. for this fantastic award!

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Participation in interview in written and web media (in English)

May - Investigating nanomedicines and bioanalysis (in English; Copyright © Insight Publishers Ltd 2014), in Finland: Flying the flag for the research excellence, Finland.

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Participation in interview in written and web media (in English)

May - Nano-Medicine (in English; Copyright © Technology Academy Finland 2014), in Better Life - Millennium Technology Prize 10th Jubilee publication, TAF, Finland.

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10.4 - Dongfei Liu (PhD student in my group) received a Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad.

The scholarship is sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Education, and the award recognizes the academic excellence of self-financed Chinese students studying overseas and is granted across all fields of study.

Many Congrats to Dongfei!

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9.4 - Michela Mori and Michela Cola (former Erasmus exchange students in our research group), have received the degree of Dr. and M.Sc., respectively, at the University of Pavia (Italy).

Dr. Hélder A. Santos was the supervisor of both Master's thesis at the University of Helsinki.

Many congrats to both Michelas!

We are very happy and proud of your achievements and wish you all the best for your future endeavors.

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1.4 (PBP2014, Lisbon) - APV Award to Luis M. Bimbo (former PhD student in my research group) for one of the Most Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in the Pharmaceutical Sciences attributed by the International Association for Pharmaceutical Technology (APV), which was supervised by Adj. Prof. Hélder A. Santos and co-supervised by Prof. Jouni Hirvonen.

Once again porous silicon research was awarded internationally. In addition, this also demonstrates that the supervision in our research group is at the very high level in Europe and in the world and keeps getting prizes internationally!

I am very proud of all our research group!

Congrats to all and let's continue in this direction in the future! 

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17.3 - Congratulations to Mónica Ferreira and Dongfei Liu, Both PhD students in my group, awarded with a travel grant from the Chancellor’s travel grant, University of Helsinki. Congrats and Well done!  

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4.2 - Congratulations to Patrick V. Almeida, PhD student in my group, awarded with a personal research Grant from the Finnish ultural Foundation. Well done!  

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TEKES CONSORTIUM PROJECT (2014-2016)

3i - Innovative Induction Initiative: Induction of new cells by innovative pharmaceuticals for vitality of people (news in Finnish)

A strategic research consortium coordinated by Professor Heikki Ruskoaho receives a € 4.8 million grant for three years (2014-2016) to find out new means to cure heart and brain diseases. The vision is to enhance the functions of the patient's own heart or brain stem cells to help to repair the damages.

Our research team is very proud to be part of this exciting project!