The Italian daily La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno recently featured the SynEry project, highlighting the key contributions of project partner IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.
Led by Dr. Fabrizio Gelain and the Nanomedicine and Tissue Engineering Unit, the Italian team plays a pivotal role in engineering the inner “scaffolding”—or cytoskeleton—that gives synthetic red blood cells their structural stability and flexibility.
Highlights from the Feature
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Engineering the Cytoskeleton: The article spotlights how Casa Sollievo is developing novel biomaterials designed to integrate seamlessly into lipid vesicles, mimicking the complex membrane mechanics of real erythrocytes.
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EU Innovation Radar Recognition: Dr. Gelain discusses the team’s inclusion in the European Commission’s Innovation Radar, which recognises their synthetic biomaterials as high-potential innovations with applications reaching beyond artificial cells.
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Addressing Transfusion Shortages: The piece emphasises the broader clinical vision of SynEry—creating a safe, scalable artificial blood substitute to help mitigate global blood supply shortages and transfusion risks.
It’s great to see regional media recognising the cutting-edge contributions of our international consortium partners!