Biography
Prof. Dr. Hélder A. Santos
• Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Head of the Translational Bionanomicro Theragenerative Medicine Lab, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• Scientific Director of the Health Technology Research and Innovation Cluster
• Director and Head of the Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering Lab, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland
Current research
His research interests focus on the development of nanoparticles/nanomedicines and biomaterials for biomedical applications, particularly cancer and heart diseases at the interface of pharmaceutical nanotechnology and tissue engineering, to develop novel therapeutic formulations for translation into the clinic.
Prof. Santos (D.Sc. Tech., Chem. Eng.) is a Full Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Groningen. He is also Research Director at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Pharmacy. Prof. Santos is also the co-founder of the startups Capsamedix Oy and Medixmicro Oy, and Coordinator of MSCA-ITN P4 FIT network in tendon repair (~4.1 m€). He holds Visiting Professorships at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and University of Tartu. Prof. Santos research interests include the development of nanoparticles/nanomedicines and biomaterials for biomedical applications, particularly cancer and heart diseases. His lab makes the unique bridge between medical engineering, pharmaceutical nanotechnology and tissue engineering by combining unique techniques to develop novel therapeutic formulations for translation into the clinic. He is co-author of +450 publications (+19000 citations; h-index = 83) and 5 patents. He has +210 invited talks around the world. He has also supervised several undergraduate students, +60 MSc students. He supervised/co-supervised +40-PhD students, mentor +25 post-docs and is currently the main supervisor of 5 undergraduate students, 16 PhD students and 3 postdoctoral researchers. He is also in Editorial board member of Advanced Healthcare Materials, Advanced Therapeutics, Chemical Society Reviews, Journal of Controlled Release, VIEW, Journal of Functional Materials, Drug Delivery Letters, Current Nanoscience, Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, AIMS Materials Science, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology and Materials, Frontiers in Biomaterials, Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, Precision Nanomedicine, PLOS ONE, Journal of Healthcare Engineering, and BioMed Research International. He is Associate Editor of Nano Select, Smart Materials in Medicine, and Drug Delivery and Translational Research, among others. Prof. Santos has received prestigious awards/grants, for example, the "Talent Prize in Science" in 2010 attributed by the Portuguese Government, ERC Starting Grant in 2013 and ERC Proof-of-Concept Grant in 2018, Young Researcher Award in 2013 attributed by Faculty of Pharmacy, the Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact in 2016, and the CRS Young Investigator Award 2021.
Key publications in nanomedicinces
1. H. Zhang, [...], H. A. Santos*, M. Hai*, D. A. Weitz*, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019, 116, 7744.
2. F. Fontana*, [...], H. A. Santos*, Adv. Mater. 2017, 29, 1603239.
3. F. Fontana, [...], V. Cerullo*, H. A. Santos*, ACS Nano 2019, 13, 6477.
4. T. Yong, [...], H. A. Santos*, X. Yang*, Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 3838.
5. M. Fusciello, [...], H. A. Santos*, V. Cerullo*, Nature Commun. 2019, 10, 5747.
6. J. Zhang, [...], Xinjian Fang*, Hélder A. Santos*, Xu Zhang*, Sci. Adv. 2022, 8, eabj8207.
7. R. Cheng, [...], W. Cui*, B. Shen*, H. A. Santos*, Adv. Mater. 2022, 2203915.
8. J. Li, [...], Z. Luo*, H. A. Santos*, B. Xia*, Adv. Mater. 2022, 34, 2108012.
9. W. Li, [...], Guoyong Yin*, Hélder A. Santos*, Jin Fan*, Dongfei Liu*, Nature Commun. 2022, 13, 1262.