POLITECNICO DI TORINO

Supradisciplinary Training in Advanced Technologies for New Therapeutic Approaches

PHD VIRTUAL OPEN WEEK 2021PhD course in Bioengineering and Medical-Surgical Sciences

Description

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• The joint programme between Politecnico di Torinoand Università degli Studi di Torino started six years ago (30 cycle);

• It was established to provide a common, high-level training for engineers, biologists, physicians, surgeons and dentists as new players in an interdisciplinary and intersectorial environment focused on an improved managing of human health.

• The doctorate is an effective incubator from which innovative solutions that could have a deep impact on reality of healthcare and production system will originate through an interdisciplinary collaboration at the research and training level.

• In the future this training will have a new home in the Turin Health, Innovation and Research Park.

Description

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General Training Objectives:

• offer capable and motivated students a qualified training in Bioengineering and Medical-Surgical Sciences and in the interdisciplinary areas connected to them;

• integrate a solid theoretical-conceptual preparation with full mastery of the most up-to-date quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and techniques (hands-on training);

• combining the specialization of the disciplinary field and the plurality of theoretical and methodological approaches, in order to provide doctoral students with an easily expendable training.

Surgery Odontostomatology Anesthesiology-Intensive Care Imaging Diagnostics Mechanical Bioengineering Biomaterials and Bionanotechnology Electronic Bioengineering

Topics

Advanced TherapiesRegenerative MedicineNanomedicineRobotic Surgery

SurgeryTopic Description

- Robotics & Automation, Artificial Intelligence applied to surgicaldisciplines.

- 3D reconstruction and modelling for surgical planning.- Bioengineered prosthesis development for surgical application.

I choose it if I am interested in:• Improving technology applied to any surgical discipline in the

fields of robotics, AI, 3D modelling, biomaterials, training &education.

Job outlet:• Surgeons of any discipline both academic and not.• Consultant for companies developing technology for surgery.• Start-upper.

Odontostomatology

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Subtopics

Topic DescriptionADVANCED THERAPY IN DENTISTRY AND ORAL SURGERY

I choose it if I am interested in:• digital work flow for rehabilitating dental and maxillofacial

patients;• personalised dentistry and medicine;• bone and mineralised tissue engineering.

Job outlet:• academic tenure track;• higher specialised professional activities;• R&D in biomedical companies.

Other Topics

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Subtopics

ADVANCED medical technologies are also applied to:

Anesthesiology-Intensive Care

Imaging Diagnostics

Job outlet:• Anesthesist and radiologist physicians.• Consultant for companies developing technology for surgery.• Start-upper.

I choose it if I am interested in:Improving technology applied to Intensive Care Improving technology applied to Imaging Diagnostics

Mechanical Bioengineering

I choose it if I am interested in:• Experimental testing for materials or devices characterization• Design of devices/experimental set-ups for custom tests• Computational approaches to investigate human districts/organs/tissues

behaviour as well as disease effects and progression or pathological conditionsJob outlet:• Research centres & laboratories • Research & development sections of medical companies• Academic career

Topic DescriptionSolid & Fluid Biomechanics Group activities are based on computational andexperimental methodologies applied to medicine and healthcare. Fields ofapplication include biological tissues/districts/organs mechanical characterizationand engineering, research on diseases progressions from macro to nano scales,devices design and testing.More specific research areas include: biological materials and structuresmechanics; engineering in surgery; cardiovascular biofluid mechanics;bioreactors for tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and transportphenomena; multiscale and multiphysics modelling.

Cardiovascular biofluid mechanics

Multiscale and multiphysics modelling

Bioreactors & transport phenomena

Biological structures mechanics

Biomaterials and BionanotechnologyTopic Description

The “Biomaterial and Bionanotechnology” topic aims to developenabling technologies for clinical challenges with high social burdenand for unsolved clinical challenges.

I choose it if I am interested in:• Design of biomaterial, biosurface and smart interface for medical devices;• Design of integrated diagnosis system (e.g. lab-on chip);• Advance therapies development.• Design of biomimetic and smart platforms for clinical needs

Job outlet:• Implantable medical device companies;• Diagnosis systems companies;• Pharmaceutical companies;• Biotech spin-off and start up;• Research fields in public and private research centers.

• Advanced Therapies

• Regenerative Medicine

• Nanomedicine

• Intelligent systems for physiological and pathological systems assessment

• Radiomics• Telemedicine• Assessment of neuromuscular system

and cortico-muscular coupling

Electronic BioengineeringTopic DescriptionThis topic addresses the development of innovative devices and applications fordiagnosis, therapy and patient monitoring. Activities range from the design ofinstrumentation to biosignals and medical images processing and interpretation.

I choose it if I am interested in:• Movement analysis• Design of innovative devices• Radiomics and medical imaging• Intelligent systems for diagnosis, therapy and patient

monitoring• TelemedicineJob outlet:• Research centres & laboratories • Biomedical companies and healthcare facilities• Academic career

International DimensionSelected Collaborating Universities

1. HOSPITAL OF THE RUHR-UNIVERSITY BOCHUM (Dott. Jochen Salber – Germany)«Development of 3D engineered models of bone tissue for the in vitro characterisation of prosthesis coatings» - H2020 EVPRO project (ExtracellularVesicles Promoted Regenerative Osseointegration)

2. UNIVERSITY OF GENT (Prof. Patrick Segers – Belgium)« Automatic measurement of pulse wave velocity or arteries» H2020-ICT-2018-2020 InSiDe project

3. MASSACHUSSETS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT) (Prof. Roger D. Kamm - USA)«Fabrication of microfluidic models of tissues and drug release particles» BIOMODE project “Joint research projects with top universities” - Compagnia di SanPaolo (2017-2021)

4. UNIVERSITY OF BASEL (prof. Anna Marsano – Switzerland)«Laboratory experimentation of dynamic culture devices for Cardiac Tissue Engineering applications developed at Politecnico di Torino laboratories»

5. MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY (Netherlands)H2020 Project "Active aGeIng and Osteoporosis: The next challenge for smarT nanobiOmaterials and 3D technologies- GIOTTO GA 8114410"

National and International DimensionInternational Projects of Excellence• ERC-CoG-2017 – BIORECAR. Partners: Humanitas Research and Clinical Center, INRIM, University of Naples

Federico II• ERC-CoG-2015 –Boost. Partners: Università di Pisa, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Università Politecnica delle

Marche• Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018-22: project supported by MIUR.• INFRA-P «Sostegno a progetti per la realizzazione e l'ampliamento di IR pubbliche» (iDeaL). Partners: University

of Turin, Dental School, INRIM• EU H2020 Marie Sklodowska Curie-AMITIE:. Partners: Imperial College London, Université Limoges, INSA Lyon,

Polytechnical University Haut-de-France, University of Erlangen Nuremberg, Federal Institute for MaterialsResearch and Testing Berlin, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Belgian Ceramic Research Center, St. Gobain,3D Ceram, Moraker, Anthogyr, Bosch, Starck Ceramics

Excellence research projectTHE ERC BOOST PROJECT

G.A. 681798P.I. Prof. Chiara Vitale Brovarone

To RE-CREATE, with a SMART SCAFFOLD, the physiological microenvironment, in order to RE-BALANCE the coupling of Oc and Ob and eventually the coordination of bone resorption

and formation.

Excellence research projectTHE ERC BIORECAR PROJECT

G.A. 772168P.I. Prof. Valeria Chiono

To DIRECTLY REPROGRAM cardiacfibroblasts in the post-infarct cardiac scarinto cardiomyocytes by the in situ release of microRNAs-loaded NANOPARTICLES through an INJECTABLE BIOMIMETIC

HYDROGEL, for myocardialREGENERATION.

International DimensionFor the XXXVI cycle (last one):• 1 grant with funds from the Compagnia di San Paolo to encourage internationalization for foreign candidates

on the topic of smart drug release polymeric hydrogels (Tzanko Tzanov, UPC Barcelona). The foreign university is also a member of the European University Alliance UNITE! With the Politecnico di Torino;

• at least 2 grants co-financed under the ERC Consolidator - BIORECAR funding. The grant winners will spend a 6-month period at Duke University School of Medicine, a center that pioneered the direct reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts via microRNA, and at Columbia University, a world-leading center in the engineering of in vitro cardiac tissue models, respectively;

• thanks to the MIUR funding, 4 scholarships were reserved for foreign citizens or Italians permanentlyresident abroad who have obtained their degree outside Italy (with an Italian or foreign qualification) and havedemonstrated, thanks to the excellence of their international curriculum, to be able to successfully complete theirstudies in Italy benefiting from a substantial bilingualism;

• 1 CO-TUTORING grant with University of Jyvaskyla - Finland.

Intersectorial and Interdisciplinary dimension

• This PhD course is intrinsically interdisciplinary as it provides third level training on issues of intersectionbetween engineering and science medical-surgical and life;

• The Ph.D supervision is characterized by experts of different disciplines of medicine and engineering fields;• The course belongs to the Ph.D school of both Politecnico di Torino and Università degli Studi di Torino; both Ph.D

schools offer soft skills courses that allow interaction among Ph.D students of different disciplines on transversalcommon issues;

• The PhD program offers hands-on training in technologies identified by Industry 4.0 with particular, but notexclusive, reference to additive manufacturing (AM) and the big data;

• This Ph.D course represents an ideal training environment, in a strong context interaction between the world ofscientific and technological research and that of the clinic.

• In particular AM will be declined in his applications with greater knowledge-based content (microfabrication ofmedical devices for use in advanced therapies, diagnostics). The new interdepartmental laboratoryPolitoBIOMed Lab, which also financed 5 PhD scholarships, is hosting research activities additive manufacturingtraining.

Class Training 60 hr Hard Skills/40 ore soft skillsBIOENGINEERING AND MEDICAL-SURGICAL SCIENCESBiofluid mechanics & bioimage processing to support cardiovascular surgery strategies, diagnostics and decision making

20h

Data mining for the analysis of clinical studies 20h

Engineering of surgically inspired medical devices 20h

Planning, management and analysis of chimical and laboratory research 15h

2022

Additive Manufacturing in Bioengineering and Surgery 20h

Advanced Therapies (Nanomedicine, Gene and Cell Therapy) in Surgery 20h

Biomedical instrumentation for physiological monitoring in surgical applications 20h

Robotic principles, materials and applications in biomedicine 15h

Segmentation, recognition and reconstruction of medical images in surgical and pre-surgical applications 20h

Lab resources

BIOLAB

PolitoBIOMed Lab.Integrative Biomechanics;New Materials and Nanotechnologies for Bio-applications;ICT for Health.

BIOMEDICAL LAB.Surface modification;Characterization of polymericmaterials;Synthesis of innovative polymers.

BIOLAB - Mechanical Laboratory-Biomedical engineering field.

DISAT GLANCE. Biomaterials;Composite materials;Thermal analyses.

Microscopy lab

DISAT-SIMTI –Thecnology and Engineered CeramicMaterials Laboratories.

Lab resourcesLISiN – Engineering of Neuromuscolar system.

DET BIOLAB:Motion analysisImaging analysisAdvanced instrument developmentTelemedicineArtificial intelligence in medicine

Minimally Invasive Therapy & Innovation Center(Dip Scienze Chirurgiche, UNITO), dry-, wet- and virtual- lab for laparoscopy and flexible endoscopy.

C.I.R. Dental School (CIR-DS), excellence center for research, teaching and support in Odontostomatology field.

After the Ph.D• The medical device market is constantly growing the space for further technological innovations that result

from extensive scientific and medical researches is huge, also thanks to the development of new areas ofresearch as described above and inter-disciplinary contexts, such as nanotechnology.

• The companies that produce medical devices need to find experts that are able to bring technological innovation.Similarly, public hospitals and private clinics need qualified personnel capable of interacting with technologyproviders to ensure increasingly advanced, competitive and high-quality services.

• The aim of PhD course is to create professionals able to interact with healthcare structures, companies anduniversities, and able to work driven by initiative and entrepreneurship, such as to support the consolidationprocesses, the evolution and innovation of the local systems of small and medium enterprises in order to strengthentheir competitiveness, especially in the field of new technologies applied to medicine and surgery.

After the Ph.DBy basing on available information, there is a positive employment situation for the PhD students.Some examples:• 1 PhD student is now « Ricercatore di tipo B» at Università di Torino;• 1 PhD student is now medical executive at CTO; • 1 PhD student is a start-up co-founder;• Researcher at international research centers (TU/e di Eindhoven - NL; RISE Research Institutes of Sweden;

Amsterdam Microbiome Initiative, Imperial College London) or at national and international private company (USA, Netherlands).

• Clinicians at italian ASL or hospital.

Testimonies

Giulia Brachi, Ph.D Giuseppe Isu, Ph.D Federico Amoroso (Ph.D Student)

Link:http://dottorato.polito.it/bsm/it/presentazionehttps://www.dottoratobsmc.unito.it/do/home.pl

Contacts:Prof. Gianluca Ciardelligianluca.ciardelli@polito.it

Prof. Federico Mussanofederico.mussano@unito.it

After the Ph.DDr Giulia Brachi

PhD Awards

• Research Associate, Imperial College London(London, UK), Feb 2020 – Present

Top Universities Ranking:• 3rd in Europe• 8th in the world

Doctoral Research Experience

Politecnico di Torino (IT), 2016-2019

Houston Methodist Research Institute (TX, USA), 2017-2018

Italian National Research Council (IT), 2017

Research Field - Biomaterials and Bionanotechnology

PhD in Bioengineering and Medical-Surgical Sciences (XXXII Cycle)

Current Position

• Ermenegildo Zegna Founder’s Scholarship (2017-2018)• Paolo Durst Award, Best Doctoral Thesis, GNB (2020)• Quality Award 2019, Politecnico di Torino (2020)

After the Ph.DDr Giuseppe Isu

PhD Awards

• R&D Manager, Medics Srl (Torino), June 2019 – Present

Doctoral Research Experience

Scuola Interpolitecnica di Dottorato (IT), 2013-2016

Hannover Medical School (Germany), 2015

Research Field - Bioreactors for Regenerative Medicineprof. Umberto Morbiducci

PhD in Biomedical Engineering (XXVIII Cycle)

Current Position

• Best Doctoral Thesis in Bioengineering 2015, Politecnico di Torino (2016)

• R&D Engineer, University Hospital Basel (Basel, Switzerland), August 2016 – May 2019

Facial scanner for surgical and prostheticplanning

Geneticfactorsand the risk of peri-implantdiseasedevelopment