Virginia Pensabene (Post-Doc)

Biography

Virginia Pensabene received his Laurea degree in Electronic Engineering from the virginia_pensabene_pictureUniversity of Pisa in 2005 (final-discussed thesis on nanomodification of microelectrode surface for improving adhesion of neural cells). On January 209, she received a Ph.D. in Humanoid Techonologies from the University of Genova, with a fellowship fund by the Italian Institute of Technology, discussing the thesis “Biointerfaces: from nanostructured substrates to novel nanoparticles for cell therapy”. In 2006 she joined the CRIM Lab of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, as assistant researcher until October 2009 working on design and development of micro and nanodevices for biomedical applications, including nanoparticles for cell therapy and ultrathin films as suturing patch for mini invasive surgery. She is with the Center for Micro-BioRobotics of the Italian Institute of Technology since March 2010, as Junior Post-Doc, with her main research focused on innovative soft robots and microcomponents for drug delivery and therapy inside the human body.

 

Publications

International Journals

  1. ”Design criteria of neuron/electrode interface. The Focused Ion Beam technology as an analytical method to investigate the effect of electrode surface morphology on neurocompatibility”, V. Raffa, V. Pensabene, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, Biomedical Microdevices, (2007) 9: 371-383.
  2. “FIB nanostructured surfaces and investigation of bio/non-bio interactions at the nanoscale”, V. Raffa, O. Vittorio, V. Pensabene, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, IEEE Transactions on NanoBioScience, vol. 7, n° 1, 2008.
  3. “Neuroblastoma cells displacement by magnetic carbon nanotubes” V. Pensabene, O. Vittorio, V. Raffa, A. Ziaei, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, IEEE Transactions on NanoBio Science, vol. 7, n° 2, 2008.
  4. “Dispersion of multi-wall carbon nanotubes in aqueous Pluronic F127 solutions for biological applications”, Fullerenes, Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures, G. Ciofani, V. Pensabene, V. Raffa, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, vol. 17, issue 1, 2009 , pag. 11 - 25.
  5. "Carbon nanotube-enhanced cell electropermeabilisation",  V. Raffa, G. Ciofani, O. Vittorio, V. Pensabene, A. Cuschieri, Bioelectrochemistry 79 (2010) 136–141.
  6. “Adhesion and proliferation of skeletal muscle cells on single layer poly(lactic acid) ultra-thin films”, L. Ricotti, S. Taccola, V. Pensabene, V. Mattoli,  T. Fujie, S. Takeoka, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, Biomed Microdevices (2010) 12:809–819.
  7. “A pilot study on a new anchoring mechanism for surgical applications based on mucoadhesives”, S. Tognarelli, V. Pensabene, S. Condino, P. Valdastri, A. Menciassi, A. Arezzo, P. Dario, MITAT, in press.
  8. “Evaluation of friction enhancement through soft polymer micro-patterns in active capsule endoscopy”, E. Buselli, V. Pensabene, P. Castrataro, P. Valdastri, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, Measurement Science and Technology, in press.
  9. “Magnetic nanofilms for biomedical applications”, E. Sinibaldi, V. Pensabene, S. Taccola, S. Palagi, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, V. Mattoli, published online on 14 May 2010, in Journal of Nanotechnology in Engineering and Medicine, Vol.1, Issue 2.
  10. “Fabrication and characterization of ultra-thin magnetic films for biomedical applications”, V. Mattoli, V. Pensabene, T. Fujie, S. Taccola, A. Menciassi, S. Takeoka, P. Dario,  Procedia Chemistry 1, 28-31, 2009.
  11. “Cell Creeping and Controlled Migration by Magnetic Carbon Nanotubes” V. Raffa, O. Vittorio, G. Ciofani, V. Pensabene, A. Cuschieri, Nanoscale Res Lett (2010) 5:257–262.

 Communications at conferences

  1. ”A methodology for high precision fabrication, modification and characterization of neural interfaces” V. Raffa, V. Pensabene, A. Menciassi, P. Dario a 1th IEEE / RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics BIOROB2006, Pisa, Italy, 2006.
  2. “Nanotechnology in medicine: towards cellular surgery and therapy” at the International School on Advanced Material Science and Technology, VII Course, Industrial Application of Nanotechnologies”, V. Raffa, V. Pensabene, G. Ciofani, A. Menciassi, 2006, Iesi, Italy.
  3. ”Carbon nanotube based vectors for gene therapy" at the "International School on Advanced Material Science and Technology, VIII Course, Industrial Application of Nanotechnologies”, V. Raffa, V. Pensabene, G. Ciofani, A. Menciassi, 2007, Iesi.
  4. “Gene therapy via CNTs-based artificial vectors”, V. Raffa, V. Pensabene, G. Ciofani, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, Proc. VII Convegno Nazionale Istituto Nazionale di Biostrutture e Biosistemi, Roma,Italy, 2006, pp. 1: 75.
  5. “Investigation of CNTs interaction with fibroblast cells”, V. Pensabene, O. Vittorio, V. Raffa, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, Proceedings of the 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS, Lion, France, pp. 6620-6623, 2007.
  6. “Cell motion and sorting with magnetic carbon nanotubes", V. Pensabene, O. Vittorio, V. Raffa, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, 6th International conference on Fine Particle Magnetism, Roma, Italy, 2007. 
  7. “Carbon nanotubes for inducing magnetotactic properties into cells”, V. Pensabene, M. Martino, A. Menciassi, P. Dario IEEE / RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics BIOROB2008, 2008, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
  8. “Micro-hairs for friction enhancement in active capsular endoscopy”, E. Buselli, V. Pensabene, P. Castrataro, P. Valdastri, A. Menciassi, P. Dario. ECOTRIB2009, June 7-10, 2009, Pisa, Italy.
  9. “Magnetic nanosheet adhesion to mucosal tissue” V. Pensabene, V. Mattoli, T. Fujie, A. Menciassi, S. Takeoka, P. Dario, Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Nanotechnology, IEEE Nano 2009, 2009, Genova, Italy.
  10. “Fabrication and characterization of ultra-thin magnetic films for biomedical applications” V. Mattoli, V. Pensabene, T. Fujie, S. Taccola, A. Menciassi, S. Takeoka, P. Dario, Proceedings of the Eurosensors XXIII conference, 2009, Lausanne, Svizzera.
  11. “Magnetic nanofilms for biomedical applications”, E. Sinibaldi, V. Pensabene, S. Taccola, S. Palagi, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, V. Mattoli, Proceedings of ASME 2010 First Global Congress on NanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology, NEMB2010, 2010 Houston, TX, USA.
  12. “Magnetic nanosheets manipulation: modeling, development and validation”, V. Mattoli, E. Sinibaldi, V. Pensabene, S. Taccola,  A. Menciassi, P. Dario, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Anchorage, Alaska, May 3, 2010.
  13. “Polymeric magnetic nanofilms for biomedical applications” V. Pensabene, S. Taccola, V. Mattoli, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, 7th International conference on Fine Particle Magnetism, Uppsala,Sweden, 2010.
  14. “Characterization of  carbon nanotubes interaction with extracellular matrix by an in vitro test bench”, V.Pensabene, S. Tognarelli, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, I Congresso Nazionale di Bioingegneria, Pisa, Italy, 2008.
  15. 'Biocompatibility and Functionality of PLA Nanosheets', L. Ricotti, S. Taccola, V. Pensabene, V. Mattoli, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, Congresso Nazionale di Bioingegneria, Torino, Italy, 2010.
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Patents

  1. V Raffa, A Menciassi, V Pensabene, G Ciofani, P Dario, Title:" METODO DI ELETTROPORAZIONE NON INVASIVA MEDIATA DA NANOTUBI DI CARBONIO E DISPOSITIVO PER ATTUARE TALE METODO" (method and device for non-invasive electroporation mediated by carbon nanotubes) PCT/IB2007/054754, 2007.
  2. P.Valdastri, V.Pensabene, A.Misuri, A.Mazzeo, S.Scapellato, Title:” DISPOSITIVO DI SUPPORTO DI SENSORI E/O ATTUATORI FACENTI PARTE DI UNA RETE DI NODI DI MISURA E/O ATTUAZIONE”( Support device for sensors and/or actuators taht can be part of a wireless network of sensors/actiators, PCT B30/0225 2008 A 32, 18 April 2008.