Postdoctoral Research Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Giovanni Offeddu is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a former PhD Candidate in the Nano Science & Technology Doctoral Training Centre at the University of Cambridge.

His PhD investigated the fabrication of bio-mimetic synthetic cartilage utilising a variety of nano-fabrication techniques and characterisation methods. In particular, the peculiar interaction between the collagen fibrils and proteoglycans network will be reproduced by using surface-functionalised synthetic polymers in the form of nanofibres-reinforced hydrogels. At the same time, his work focused on the characterisation of the nano- and macro-scale mechanical properties of biocompatible scaffolds to be used in regenerative medicine applications, as a result of their permeability to fluids.