Education

Mar 2008              Ph.D (European Ph.D in Materials Science and Technology) – Supervisors: Prof. E. Garrone, Prof. B. Onida, Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Oct 2004               M.S. (Chemical Engineering, Summa cum Laude), Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Professional Experience

May 2016- present            Associate Professor (02/B1, FIS03), Dept. of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

June 2021 – present           Co-funder of the Start-up U-Care Medical

Jan 2016- May 2016          Visiting Professor, Dept. of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Aug 2010 – Dec 2015        Senior Post-doc, Center for Space Human Robotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Turin, Italy

Jan 2008 – Jul 2010          Post-Doc, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Munich, Germany

Feb 2008 – Jul 2010          Scientific Consultant, Nanoscape AG, Munich, Germany

Apr 2006 – Jul 2010          Scientific Consultant , Cook Medical INC. Bloomington, USA

Nov 2004                           Internship, Rüsch France S.A.R.I., Strasbourg, France

Current Research Interests

Valentina Cauda leads a research group of 20 people (including 5 post-docs, 6 PhDs and 9 Master students) at DISAT- Politecnico di Torino.The main research topic is about theranostic nanomaterials, from wet chemical synthesis, chemical functionalization and physical-chemical characterization of metal oxide nanomaterials to drug delivery, stimuli-responsive activation,  tumor cell targeting, and bio-imaging. Materials like zinc oxide, mesoporous silica, titania and metal (gold, silver) nanostructures are investigated. The laboratory also is expert in the extraction of extracellular vesicles and their re-engineering for advanced drug delivery and nanoimaging vehicles. More info at the web-site: www.tnhlab.polito.it/. Recently Valentina has also established a Start-up, U-Care Medical, to study, monitor and predict the insurgence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically hill patients. More info at: http://u-caremedical.com/

Scientific Publications

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2382-1533

124 papers in ISI peer-reviewed journals + 3 edited book + 11 book chapters + 28 conference proceedings

26 papers as first-author + 52 papers as corresponding author

H-index: 38 (Source: Scopus)

4825 total citations by 3818 documents (1^st December 2021, source: Scopus)

67 articles in journals with impact factor (IF) > 5 (Adv. Mater., Nano Lett., JACS, Nano Energy, Chem. Mater, J. Mater. Chem., Nanoresearch, ACS Appl. Mater. Interf, Chem. Eng. J., Nano-Micro Lett.,.….)

Average citation per article: 38.5

Patents

1. “Biomimetic Non-Immunogenic Nanoassembly for the Antitumor Therapy” (Original title: “Nanocostrutto Biomimetico Non Immunogenico per la Terapia Antitumorale”) Italian Patent N. IT102017000129243 of 13^th Nov. 2017, PCT: WO2019092550of 16^th May 2019. Inventors: V.Cauda, G. Canavese, T. Limongi, N. Garino, M. Laurenti, B. Dumontel, M. Canta, L. Racca, A. Ancona, filed with research report.

2. Sonosensitizing agent and its method of activation” (Original title:“Agente sonosensibilizzante e suo metodo di attivazione”) Italian Patent N. IT102018000009966 of 31^th Oct. 2018, PCT: WO2021181132 Inventors: V. Cauda, G. Cicero, G. Canavese, T. Limongi, N. Garino, L. Racca, A. Ancona, B. Dumontel, M. Canta, L. Serpe, R. Canaparo, F. Foglietta, A. Francovich, G. Durando, filed with research report.

3. “A biomimetic nanoporous carrier comprising an inhibitor directed towards the native form of IDH2 protein” (Original title: “Vettore nanoporoso biomimetico comprendente un inibitore diretto verso la forma nativa della proteina IDH2” Italian Patent N. IT102019000001009 of 23^rd January 2019, PCT: WO2020152559 of 30^th July 2020. Inventors: V. Cauda, T. Limongi, L. Racca, M. Canta, F. Susa, R. Piva, E. Bergaggio, N. Vitale, E. Mereu, filed with research report

4. A monitoring and prediction system of diuresis for the calculation of kidney failure risk, and the method thereof” (Original title: “Sistema di monitoraggio e previsione della diuresi per il calcolo del rischio di insufficienza renale, e relativo metodo”) Italian Patent N. IT102019000001365 of 30^th January 2019, PCT:WO2020157557of 21^st Nov 2019, China: CN 113383396 A. of 10^th September 2021. Inventors: A. Ancona, V. Cauda, E. Manti, filed with research report

5. “A sonoluminescence contrast imaging method and apparatus assisted by nanoparticles in the biomedical field, in particular in the oncological field” (Original title:”Metodo ed apparato per immagine di contrasto in sonoluminescenza assistita da nanoparticelle in ambito medico diagnostico, in particolare oncologico”) Italian Patent Application N. IT102021000005123 of 8^th March 2021, Inventors: V. Cauda, V. Vighetto, M. Carofiglio, A. Ancona, filed with research report

6. “Metodo per l’ottenimento di popolazioni concentrate di vescicole extracellulari lavate del loro carico fisiopatologico” ” Italian Patent Application N. IT 102021000027725 of 29^th October 2021, Inventors: T. Limongi, F. Susa, R. Pisano V. Cauda, pending evaluation.

7.        “Current effective delivered dose monitoring for continuous renal replacement therapy” (Original title: “Metodo per acquisire campioni biologici liquidi da un circuito extracorporeo per un trattamento di purificazione ematica extracorporea e relativi apparato e sistema”) Italian Patent Application N. IT102021000032621of 24^th December 2021, Inventors: V Cauda, A. Ancona, G. Villa, S. Romagnoli, Z. Ricci, pending evaluation.

Awards and Prizes

Jan 2021           Best Paper Award - Nanometerials 2020 (MDPI), received from the journal Nanomaterials-MDPI for the publication H. Engelke, V. Cauda et al. Nanomaterials 2018, 8(3), 143; https://doi.org /10.3390/nano8030143

Dec 2020                   CeNS Publication Award 2020 - Center for NanoScience (CeNS), University of Munich, Germany

for the publication: E. Ploetz, A. Zimpel, V. Cauda, D. Bauer, D. C. Lamb, C. Haisch, S. Zahler, A. M. Vollmar, S. Wuttke and H. Engelke Advanced Materials, 10.1002/adma.201907267 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201907267

Dec 2020             Winner at national prize for innovation “Premio Nazionale Innovazione” (PNI) in the field of Life Science for the entrepreneurial and business idea U-Care Medical https://en.pnicube.it/ivincitori    The prize was awarded by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella - https://cotec.it/premio-dei-premi-2020/

Oct 2020              Winner at Start Cup Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta for the entrepreneurial and business idea U-Care Medical https://startcup.i3p.it/editions/zoom/19   

Jun 2020              Best Review Paper Award – Coatings 2019, received from the journal Coatings-MDPI for the publication: “Porous Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis Approaches and Applications”, M. Laurenti, V. Cauda, Coatings 2018, 8(2), 67; https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6412/8/2/67

Feb 2019            Certificate of Recognition from Conference Series, from the Editors of J. Biotechnology & Biomaterials, and J. Tissue Science and Engineering for the Keynote presentation at 4^th Annual Conference and Expo on Biomaterials, Feb 25-26^th 2019, London (UK).

Nov 2018             Best Poster Award at the Merck and Elsevier Young Chemists Symposium (MEYCS 2018) for the poster B. Dumontel, M. Canta, F. Susa, L. Racca, A. Ancona, N. Garino, T. Limongi, A. Chiodoni, V. Cauda “Enhanced biostability and biocompatibility of zinc oxide nanocrystals shielded by a phospholipid bilayer”.

Nov 2017              USERN Prize 2017 in Biological Science (USERN: Universal Scientific Education and Research Netwros), an international award to top young scientist in the world under 40 years old for the novel advancement in the field of biology

Oct 2016               Best Poster Award at the Merck Young Chemists Symposium (MYCS 2016) for the poster L. Racca, B. Dumontel, B. Miccoli, M. Canta, L. Serpe, R. Canaparo, C. Di Benedetto, A. Falqui, V. Cauda, “Investigation of cytotoxic effects of different ZnO nanostructures on living cancer cells”

Jun 2016               Top-10 Papers published in 2015 of the Italian Chemical Society under-35 for the publication: M. Laurenti, G. Canavese, A. Sacco, M. Fontana, K. Bejtka, M. Castellino, F. C. Pirri, V. Cauda “Nanobranched ZnO Structure: p-Type Doping Induces Piezoelectric Voltage Generation and Ferroelectric-Photovoltaic Effect” ADVANCED MATERIALS, 2015, vol. 27, pp. 4218–4223

Oct 2015         Prize Zonta Area 03 Distretto 30 from Zonta International – Scientific Area: Chemical Sciences

May 2015             Best Paper Award at the 38^th International Spring Seminar on Electronics Technology (ISSE 2015) for the publication: B. Miccoli, A. Bonanno, V. Cauda, A. Sanginario, D. Demarchi “Interface of a Single ZnO-Nanowire Assembled onto Custom-Fabricated Nanogap Device for UV Sensing Applications”, Eger (Hungary), 6-10 May 2015, pp. 431-435, doi: 10.1109/ISSE.2015.7248035.

Mar 2013              Prize “Giovedì Scienza” 2013- 2^nd Edition- Young researchers under 35

Apr 2010               Publication Award 2010 – Center for NanoScience (CeNS), University of Munich, Germany

for the publication: A. Sauer, A. Schlossbauer, N. Ruthardt, V. Cauda, T. Bein, C. Bräuchle NANO LETTERS, 2010, vol. 10, issue 9, pp 3684-3691.

Dec 2010              Prize “Dr. Klaus Römer Stiftung” Best Post-Doc 2010 - Departments of Chemistry and of Biochemistry, University of Munich, Germany

Most important Research Grants

2021                    PRIN 2020 – Italian Minister of University and Research (MUR), project  title “MiTHoS -Multimodal Innovative THeranostic nanoSystem” Project N.2020MHL8S9, Role: Principal Investigator and Project Coordinator (dedicated budget: 150.000 euro), Duration: 36 months, Mar 2022 - Feb 2025

2020                    FET OPEN RIA Horizon 2020 Project title: “MIMIC-KeY - A key to the rational design of extracellular vesicles-mimicking nanoparticles”, Project N. 964386, Role: Project Coordinator (dedicated budget: 528’987 euro), Duration: 48 months, June 2021-May 2025.

2020             ERC Proof-of-Concept call 2020 Project title: “XtraUS -Fighting cancer relapse with remote activation of smart and and targeted targeted targeted targeted nanoconstructs”, Project N. 957563, Budget: 150’000 Euro, Role: Principal Investigator, Duration: 60 months, March 2021 – Aug 2022

2019                    Marie Skłodowska Curie Action - European Fellowship, Project title “MINT - Multifunctional Immunocompatible NanoTheranostics to modulate tumor microenvironment and improve treatment monitoring: A double blow to pancreatic cancer”, N. 842964 –, Budget: 183’473.28 Euro, Role: Coordinator/Supervisor,Duration: 24 months, Sep 2019- Aug 2021.

2017                      COST ACTION “ENIUS” (European Network of multidisciplinary research to improve the Urinary Stents), CA16217, Role: MC Member, duration 48 months, July 2017 – June 2019

2015                      ERC Starting Grant call 2015, Project title: “TROJANANOHORSE - Hybrid immune-eluding nanocrystals as smart and active theranostic weapons against cancer”, Project N. 678151, , Role: Principal Investigator, Duration: 60 months, Mar 2016 – Feb 2021