School of Engineering
Applied Photobiological Chemistry
(AppLightChem)
2021 SGR 01023
AppLightChem is a research group that specializes in the biomedical applications and chemical aspects of photonics.
It focuses its research and transfer activities on solar photoprotection, cancer photochemotherapy, photoantimicrobial therapies and fluorescence imaging. AppLightChem develops advanced chemical technologies for photoprotection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases with light-activated drugs.
The group is an international leader in its field and has a significant number of international and corporate collaborations.
It has been recognised by AGAUR as a Consolidated Research Group since 2021.
In this environment, AppLightChem carries out its RD and technology transfer activities on the following areas:
- Biological photochemistry
- Photofunctional molecules and nanomaterials
- New strategies in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy: genetically encoded photosensitisers, peptide-photosensitiser conjugates and multi-cationic photosensitisers
- Photodynamic therapy and theragnostic applications of light
- New strategies in singlet oxygen detection using fluorescence probes
- Photoprotective solar filters
- Photoelectrochemistry of nanostructured semiconductive electrodes
COORDINATOR:
Santi Nonell Marrugat, PhD
Head of APPLIGHTCHEM Group - Professor - ICREA Academia
+34932672000
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MEMBERS:
EXTERNAL COLABORATORS
Giovanni Romano, PhD
Università degli Studi di Firenze
Nelly Henry, PhD
Sorbonne Université, Campus Pierre et Marie Curie
Emilio Palomares, PhD
Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ)
Elena Reddi, PhD
Università di Padova
Karas Kadioglu, PhD
Liverpool University
Glyn Taylor, PhD
Cardiff Scintigraphics Limited (i2c)
FACILITIES
Photochemistry Laboratory
BUSINESS SOLUTION AREAS
LINKED NEWS
Doctoral thesis
New Antimicrobial Photodynamic Platform
05/12/2023
Dr Andrea Mussini recently defended his doctoral thesis, conducted jointly between IQS and the University of Parma, on new delivery systems for protein-based antimicrobial photodynamic therapies.
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Interview
New Phototheranostic Applications for Hypoxia
05/10/2023
"At IQS, I've worked on various tumour cell lines to study their viability against a photodynamic agent and with different concentrations of oxygen"
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Interview
Dr Santi Nonell, the First ICREA Researcher at IQS
08/05/2023
Interview with Dr Santi Nonell, tenured professor at the IQS School of Engineering and the university’s first researcher to form part of the ICREA Academia community for excellence in research at Catalan universities.
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Interview
Theranostic Photosensitizing Agents for Phosphorescence-Guided Surgery
30/09/2022
"It is essential to have adequate tools in order to study complex systems, and photonics is an ideal discipline considering its non-invasive nature, occupying an essential place in research"
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Research
Self-Assembled Nanosystems for Phototheranostic Applications
24/11/2021
Researchers from IQS and UAM collaborate in the PhotoSMS project to develop "all-in-one" photodynamic agents capable of forming nanostructures with phototherapeutic activity.
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Doctoral thesis
Photosensitive Targeted Nanocarriers for Selective Delivery of Photodynamic Therapy
29/07/2021
Dr Elena de las Heras recently defended her doctoral thesis at IQS, in which she has designed and developed new photo-immuno-chemo-nanotransporters, which have shown high photodynamic activity against tumour cells and are effective and safe for the photodynamic delivery of doxorubicin on demand.
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LATEST PROJECTS
Chemphot (chemistry of photons: from photobiology to optical matter)
Innovative treatment of infections and cancer using real-time monitoring of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) using self-reporting non-toxic photosensitizers
Funding Agency:
Research Group Link:
Applied Photobiological Chemistry (AppLightChem)
FastComet (Future Data Storage Using Colloidal Memory Technology)
Novel colloidal memory concept in which colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) are considered carriers of the data, and by means of the electrodes, applied frequencies
and electrophoresis, particles are arranged in specific sequences in the capillaries to store data.
Funding Agency:
Research Group Link:
Applied Photobiological Chemistry (AppLightChem)
Lightcompas (Exploring light-matter interactions and forces in complex particle arrays)
New knowledge to bring a focused understanding of interactions between light and matter opening up new frontiers in Nano-Optoelectronics, Optical Microscopy, Nano/Bio-sensing, Optical Communications, (Bio-)Optical Manipulation
Funding Agency:
Research Group Link:
Applied Photobiological Chemistry (AppLightChem)
