SynCell-nExUs Supervisors

César Rodriguez-Emmenegger is an ICREA Research Professor and leader of the Quasi-Living Materials Group at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). His research aims to create materials with agentic, adaptive behaviour for biomedical applications. The group combines macromolecular engineering, interactive biointerfaces and synthetic-cell technology to develop advanced wound dressings, improved blood oxygenators and synthetic predators capable of combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Its design strategy integrates engineered and natural macromolecules, hierarchical self-assembly and the deliberate exploitation of subtle molecular heterogeneities to generate selective, cooperative and responsive functions. This work bridges chemistry, physics and biology with translational medicine and clinically emerging therapeutic technologies.

This project aims to engineer synthetic-cell membranes capable of distinguishing between cells that display similar classes of surface receptors, a level of interfacial selectivity still unmatched by synthetic systems. Achieving this would advance our understanding of cellular recognition and enable more precise drug delivery and antimicrobial targeting. The project will encompass the synthesis of Janus dendrimers and comb copolymers, their assembly into dendrimersome and combisome membranes, and the integration of repulsive polymer brushes with multiple ultra-weak interactions. By harnessing combinatorial entropy, we will create superselective systems able to target pathogenic bacteria while preserving closely related members of the healthy microbiota.

For more information, visit the Quasi Living Materials Research Group website