Andrea Mescola

He earned his BSc in Chemistry and Chemical Technologies at the University of Genoa in 2007 and his MD in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Genoa in 2010. In 2014, he earned a PhD in Nanoscience at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa by defending a thesis titled "Biocompatible surface modification for cell-sensing devices". Then, he spent two years as postdoc researcher at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Liège (Belgium) in the Nanochemistry and Molecular Systems laboratory, where he specialized in single-molecule techniques and force spectroscopy measurements. From October 2016, he is a postdoc research fellow at the S3 Center of CNR Nanoscience Institute in Modena. He spent the first three years within NanoBio laboratory, where the main research activities were focused on biophysical issues. He was directly involved in a work package of the regional project Niprogen with the aim to evaluate mechanical properties of cells deposited over biomimetic scaffolds. He studied as well the correlation between cell mechanical properties and the migratory capacity of glioblastoma multiforme tumor lines by performing live-cell imaging using time-lapse microscopy. He also contributed to biophysical studies to shed light on the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides, both commercially available and ad hoc synthesized, on different lipid membranes models. In July 2018 he was selected as a participant at Innovation Cup, organized by Merck Group; his team Materials & Solution - Nanotechnology and surface chemistry has been selected by jury committee as one of the best and awarded as a finalist in the competition. In December 2019, he joined the SUP&RMAN laboratory (SUPerfici & Ricoprimenti per Meccanica Avanzata e Nanomeccanica) where is currently working within the MIUR-PRIN national research project UTFROM (Understanding and Tuning Friction through nanOstructure Manipulation). The current research activity mainly consists in evaluating and interpreting the mechanical response on a sub-micrometric scale of carbon-based 2D materials (typically graphene) exposed to specific external conditions (tension, compression, adhesion / suspension on different types of substrates) that can favor particular nanomechanical phenomena, such as superlubricity.