This proposal concerns Reversible Self-assembled Monolayers (rSAMs) as dynamic nanoparticle shells for multivalent interactions at biointerfaces. Current drug design and diagnostics are exploring the multivalency concept, i.e. binding of biological targets via multiple weak interactions. In contrast to classical drug design relying on high-affinity inhibitors, this relies on dendritic architectures featuring a high density of ligands, e.g. saccharides, capable of simultaneously interacting with biointerfacial receptors. This strategy can be used to inhibit the virus entry by blocking the receptor at the early stages of infection and the concept is being explored as antiviral drugs and in virus sensing. However, in current systems ligands are covalently fixed on the particle surface. This prevents control over the ligand distribution and composition which compromises selectivity and affinity of the interactions. rSAMs are pH-switchable versions of thiol-SAMs. They are tunable with respect to the nature of the head group and layer order and stability while featuring pH responsiveness and the dynamic nature of non-covalently build assemblies e.g. lipid bilayers. Ligand decorated rSAMs therefore feature strongly enhanced affinities for multivalent targets. The main aims of this proposal are: 1) to investigate the use of rSAMs as dynamic nanoparticle shells for multivalent inhibition of viruses and 2) to assess such systems as nanoplasmonic sensors for antibody-free ultrasensitive, robust and rapid in situ virus detection. Under 1) we will select model pathogens, e.g. Ebola and prepare a series of saccharide terminated amidines for the first generation dynamic shell nanoparticles.Their efficiency will be assessed in infection assays using artificial virus particles Under 2) we will develop influenza virus sensors with subtyping capability within human and animal virus strains. The sensors will be validated with respect to benchmark assays.

CHILDCIPH proposes a two-year fellowship at the School of Arts and Communication (K3) at Malmö University, Sweden. The recent rise of illiberal, conservative and right-wing populist movements poses an acute threat to democracy and equality in Europe. One pervasive but underresearched strand of these movements advocates ‘traditional family values’, in particular conservative sexual and gender politics, in the name of protecting children. The project will fill this research gap through interdisciplinary research examining the discursive construction of the child as the ultimate site of vulnerability and risk, and hence in need of protection and policy intervention. The irrational, or affective component of such discourses calls for an approach capable of accounting for their emotive force or ‘grip’. This proposal aims to develop such an approach, combining insights and methodology from political discourse theory, media studies and psychosocial studies. The research is characterised by a significant comparative dimension, analysing discourses by conservative, ‘pro-traditional family values’ actors, from politicians to activists, in Germany and Russia. The project will generate 3 articles and will be presented at international conferences, through blog posts, public events, as well as policy recommendations. The host institution will benefit from an interdisciplinary project that operationalizes the role of emotions and affect in media research – an aim central to the work of the Rethinking Democracy research platform, while it will benefit my career trajectory by establishing me as an independent researcher with a unique and thorough expertise on the role of emotions and affect in analyzing processes of negative political mobilization, in particular in issues threatening gender equality and LGBT rights.

Neuropathic pain (NP) is a common symptom arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory system. The traditional approach to manage NP patients is to initiate treatment with conservative pharmacological therapy before interventional strategies. However, first-line drug treatments have shown modest efficacy with less than 50% of pain relief. Since NP is present in ~70% of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), people with this pathology represent a reliable population to study NP. Interestingly, previous studies have shown a clear correlation between NP and changes in electroencephalography (EEG), which is a good indicator of the state of the central nervous system. Hence, I hypothesise that NP episodes in SCI patients can be predicted based on the classification and identification of features extracted from EEG recordings in resting state and during an imaginary motor task. In recent years, digital health technology has emerged as a useful tool to improve data management strategy under the full control of the patient. In this project, I will employ state-of-the-art digital health technology (a smartphone app and a portable EEG) to collect data from SCI patients daily for one month, including pain self-assessment scales and physiological indicators. I will set up a digital-health-based study using a software platform already established by the host institution. The collection of these data will allow me to develop a personalised model to predict the onset of NP episodes using machine learning techniques. Predicting the occurrence of NP episodes will increase the medication efficacy, which in turn will prevent an aggressive development of pain events while minimising the side effects produced by excessive drug doses. The expected results of this project will remarkably improve the quality of life of SCI patients with NP.

Tissue engineering or regenerative medicine, with its ultimate aim of developing true human replacement parts, has recently made enormous progress. The field refers to the use of human cells to replace or regenerate tissues or organs. Ideally, biomaterials for tissue engineering should efficiently mimic functionalities of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). Hence surfaces of biomaterials should be engineered for dynamic control of cell behaviour. The objective of this proposal is to exploit molecular imprinting as a dynamic methodology for biofunctionalization and tissue engineering. Building on our previous proof of concept demonstration of systems for cell sheet harvesting, we expect to hereby obtain dynamic biofunctionalization of surfaces and overcome limitations of currently used methodologies (e.g. ligand leaching in non-covalent approach, loss of bioactivity in covalent approach, and lack of means for dynamic control of cells adhesion in both). The specific objectives of the proposal are as follows: 1) To establish bioimprinted hydrogels with thermo-responsive affinity to bioactive cell adhesive peptide as a generic platform for dynamically regulating cell adhesion and migration. 2) To develop thermo-responsive DNA aptamer imprinted hydrogels for dynamic recognition of specific cells via cell-aptamer interactions, and using as a platform for capture and release tumor cells. Therefore, this proposal will mimic the in vivo dynamic characters of the ECM and allow to obtain controllable cell behaviours in artificial biomaterials, thus having potential applications in medical diagnostic and regenerative medicine. Bringing together a highly talented and creative experienced researcher, who has already contributed decisively to the field, with a leading research group in the field of molecular imprinting and biomedicine will allow for the aforementioned objectives to be successfully accomplished.