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BIOGRAPHY
Helena Iuele is a trained analytical chemist and a material specialist with extensive experience in composite materials, hydrogels, nano and microparticles, fullerenes and their use in drug delivery, energetics, catalyst and sensoristic. She also gained experience in designing, optimizing and validating chromatographic techniques (GC-MS and HPLC-MS) and in developing biological and enzymatic assays.
She is both an inventor and a scientist and she owns patents and publications on international journals. Her research interests include the application of nanomaterials for cancer therapies. She is actually a postdoc research fellow at CNR Nanotec Institute of Nanotechnology, (Lecce, Italy) in the INTERCELLMED group where she prepares optical sensors to image the microenvironment of 3D in vitro tumor models of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Previously she was a research fellow at “Universidad Nacional de Colombia” (Bogota, Colombia) and she was working on new fullerene derivatives for applications in solar cells. In 2019, she completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the “University of Waikato” (Hamilton, New Zealand) where she was awarded with the «University of Waikato Ph.D. scholarship» for three years. Her Ph.D. research involved the environmental and ecotoxicological monitoring of endocrine disrupting chemicals classified as carcinogenic. In 2015, she completed a II level Master in Material Science at “IMAST scarl of Naples” (Naples, Italy), becoming a material specialist in polymeric materials with integrate functionality. During this time she designed, developed and patented wearable biosensors for the continuous monitoring of glucose, lactate (cancer marker) and nicotine without the use of blood as biological fluid.
In 2013, she completed her MSc cum laude in Analytical Chemistry at “La Sapienza” University of Rome (Rome, Italy) winning the «LAZIODISU MSc degree award 2013» and the «VI Young Chemists’ Conference 2014» thanks to her researches on metallic nanoparticles for sensing application, enzyme immobilization and drug delivery. In 2011, she completed her BSc in Chemistry at the “University of Trieste” (Trieste, Italy) where she monitored drugs residues in urban wastewater.
researches
(2022) electrospun pH sensing fibers mimicking the native extracellular matrix for invasion and wound healing studies and for tumor microenvironment mapping
(2021) biocompatible PtOEP-Alexa647 dissolved oxygen microsilica sensors with HeLA Cells for bio-sensing applications and hypoxia mapping of tumor microenvironments
(2021) bio-compatible FITC-CYN3 optical pH microsilica sensors in pH-adjusted L15 medium for bio-sensing applications and acidification mapping of tumor microenvironments
(2021) Bio-compatible FITC-RBITC pH microsilica sensors dispersed in PCL fibers for the pH mapping of the tumor microenvironment of ASPC1 cells
(2017) Hypodermic polymeric microneedles based enzymatic electrodes for electrochemical biosensing of glucose and lactic acid (tumor marker) without the use of blood as biological fluid
(2014) Gaseous ammonia selective sensor made up of a nanocomposite material that consists in nanostructured polyaniline fibers and functionalized golden nanoparticles.
