Gianni Ciofani (Post-Doc)

Biography

Gianni Ciofani received his Master Degree in Biomedical Engineeringgianni_ciofani_foto (with Honors) from the University of Pisa, Italy, in July 2006, the Diploma in Engineering (with Honors) from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, Italy, in November 2006, and the Ph.D. in Bioengeneering (with Honors) from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa, Italy, in January 2010. From 2006 to 2009 he collaborated with the CRIM Lab of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna as Research Assistant and Ph.D. student. He also spent research periods as visiting Ph.D. student at the Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) and at the Center of Investigation “Principe Felipe” (Valencia, Spain). For his research activity, he was awarded with the ISIB-CNR award (2006), the AICC award (2008), the excellent paper award of the Society for Biotechnology of Japan (2009), and with the STSBC-Roche award (2009).

Since January 2010 he is Post-Doc researcher at the IIT unit of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. His main research interests are in the field of nanomedicine, cell surgery, and innovative materials for drug delivery systems.

 

Publications

International Journals

  1. Calucci L., Ciofani G., De Marchi D., Forte C., Menciassi A., Menichetti L., Positano V. Boron nitride nanotubes as T2-weighted MRI contrast agents. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, on line, DOI 10.1021/jz100895s.
  2. Ciofani G. Potential applications of boron nitride nanotubes as drug delivery systems. Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 7(8): 889-893 (2010).
  3. Ciofani G., Danti S., D’Alessandro D., Moscato S., Petrini M., Menciassi A. Barium titanate nanoparticles: highly cytocompatible dispersions in glycol-chitosan and doxorubicin complexes for cancer therapy. Nanoscale Research Letters, 5(7): 1093-1101 (2010).
  4. Raffa V., Ciofani G., Vittorio O., Pensabene V., Cuschieri A. Carbon nanotube-enhanced cell electropermeabilisation. Bioelectrochemistry, 79(1): 136–141 (2010).
  5. Ciofani G., Migliore A., Mazzei D., Carrozza M.C., Dario P. Modification of pointing performance in altered gravitational environments. Microgravity Science and Technology, 22(2): 123-128 (2010).
  6. Ciofani G., Ricotti L., Danti S., Moscato S., Nesti C., D’Alessandro D., Dinucci D., Chiellini F., Pietrabissa A., Petrini M., Menciassi A. Investigation of interactions between poly-L-lysine coated boron nitride nanotubes and C2C12 cells: up-take, cytocompatibility and differentiation. International Journal of Nanomedicine, 5: 285-298 (2010).
  7. Ciofani G., Danti S., D’Alessandro D., Moscato S., Menciassi A. Assessing cytotoxicity of boron nitride nanotubes: interference with the MTT assay. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 394(2): 405-411 (2010).
  8. Ciofani G., Danti S., Moscato S., Albertazzi L., D’Alessandro D., Dinucci D., Chiellini F., Petrini M., Menciassi A. Preparation of stable dispersion of barium titanate nanoparticles: potential applications in biomedicine. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 76(2): 535-543 (2010).
  9. Raffa V., Ciofani G., Vittorio O., Riggio C., Cuschieri A. Physicochemical properties affecting cellular uptake of carbon nanotubes. Nanomedicine UK 5(1): 89-97 (2010).
  10. Obata Y., Ciofani G., Raffa V., Cuschieri A. Menciassi A., Dario P., Takeoka S. Evaluation of cationic liposomes composed of an amino-acid-based lipid for neuronal transfection. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine 6(1): 70-77 (2010).
  11. Ciofani G., Raffa V. Chemically functionalized carbon nanotubes: emerging vectors for cell therapy. Mini-reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 9:1251-1261 (2009).
  12. Riggio C., Ciofani G., Raffa V., Cuschieri A., Micera S. Combination of polymer technology and carbon nanotube array for the development of an effective drug delivery system at cellular level. Nanoscale Research Letter 4:668-673 (2009).
  13. Ciofani G., Riggio C., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Cuschieri A. A bi-modal approach against cancer: magnetic alginate nanoparticles for combined chemotherapy and hyperthermia. Medical Hypotheses 73:80-82 (2009).
  14. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Cuschieri A., Micera S. Magnetic alginate microspheres: system for the position controlled delivery of nerve growth factor. Biomedical Microdevices 11:517-527 (2009).
  15. Bardi G., Tognini P., Ciofani G., Raffa V., Costa M., Pizzorusso T. Pluronic-coated carbon nanotubes do not induce degeneration of cortical neurons in vivo and in vitro. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine 5:96-104 (2009).
  16. Ciofani G., Obata Y., Sato I., Okamura Y., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Dario P., Takeda N., Takeoka S. Realization, characterization and functionalization of lipidic wrapped carbon nanotubes. Journal of Nanoparticle Research 11:477-484 (2009).
  17. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Yu J., Chen Y., Obata Y., Takeoka S., Menciassi A., Cuschieri A. Boron nitride nanotubes: a novel vector for targeted magnetic drug delivery. Current Nanoscience 5:33-38 (2009).
  18. Raffa V., Ciofani G., Cuschieri A. Enhanced low voltage cell electropermeabilization by boron nitride nanotubes. Nanotechnology 20:075104 (2009).
  19. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Cuschieri A. Folate functionalised boron nitride nanotubes and their selective uptake by glioblastoma multiforme cells: implications for their use as boron carriers in clinical boron neutron capture therapy. Nanoscale Research Letters 4:113-121 (2009).
  20. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Cuschieri A. Boron nitride nanotubes: an innovative tool for nanomedicine. Nano Today 4:8-10 (2009).
  21. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Pensabene V., Menciassi A., Dario P. Dispersion of multiwall carbon nanotubes in aqueous Pluronic F127 solutions for biological applications. Fullerenes Nanotubes and Carbon Nanostructures 17:11-25 (2009).
  22. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Dario P. Preparation of boron nitride nanotubes aqueous dispersions for biological applications. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 8:6223-6231 (2008).
  23. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Cuschieri A. Cytocompatibility, interactions and uptake of polyethyleneimine-coated boron nitride nanotubes by living cells: confirmation of their potential for biomedical applications. Biotechnology and Bioengineering 101:850-858 (2008).
  24. Raffa V., Ciofani G., Nitodas S., Karachalios T., D’Alessandro D., Masini M., Cuschieri A. Can the properties of carbon nanotubes influence their internalization by living cells? Carbon 46:1600-1610 (2008).
  25. Ciofani G., Cascone M.G., Serino L.P., Lazzeri L. Urease loaded alginate microspheres for blood purification. Journal of Microencapsulation 25:569-576 (2008).
  26. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Pizzorusso T., Menciassi A., Dario P. Characterization of an alginate based drug delivery system for neurological applications. Medical Engineering and Physics 30:848-855 (2008).
  27. Ciofani G., Migliore A., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Dario P. Bi-compartmental device for dynamic cell co-culture: design, realisation and preliminary results. Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering 105:536-544 (2008).
  28. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Dario P. Alginate and chitosan particles as drug delivery system for cell therapy. Biomedical Microdevices 10:131-140 (2008).
  29. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Obata Y., Menciassi A., Dario P., Takeoka S. Magnetic driven alginate nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery. Current Nanoscience 4:212-218 (2008).
  30. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Micera S., Dario P. A drug delivery system based on alginate microspheres: mass-transport test and in vitro validation. Biomedical Microdevices 9:395-403 (2007)

 

Book chapters

  1. Riggio C., Ciofani G., Raffa V., Bossi S., Micera S., Cuschieri A. Polymeric thin film technology for neural interfaces: Review and perspectives. In “Polymer Thin Films”, pp. 289-308, edited by Hashim A.A. (In-Tech, Croatia, 2010)
  2. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Vittorio O., Cuschieri A., Pizzorusso T., Costa M., Bardi G. In vitro and in vivo biocompatibility testing of functionalized carbon nanotubes. In “Carbon Nanotubes: Methods and Protocols”. Methods in Molecular Biology Series, vol. 625, pp. 67-84, edited by Burghard M., Balasubramanian K. (The Humana Press, Springer, USA, 2010).
  3. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Micera S. Innovative strategies for controlled delivery and release of NGF in neurological applications. In “Nerve Growth Factor: New Research”, pp. 91-140, edited by MacIntire G.K. (Nova Science Publishers, USA, 2008).

 

Patents

  1. Ciofani G., Raffa V., Danti S., Menciassi A., Dario P., Petrini M., Cuschieri A. Piezoelectric nanotube - mediated cell stimulation. Italian patent application nr. FI2009A000076, April 14th, 2009; international patent application PCT/IB2010/051602, April 14th, 2010.
  2. Ciofani G., Migliore A., Raffa V., Menciassi A., Dario P. Multicompartmental and flow-variable bioreactor for comparative studies on cellular co-cultures. Italian patent application nr. PI2007A000086, July 25th, 2007.
  3. Raffa V., Menciassi A., Pensabene V., Ciofani G., Dario P. Non invasive method of electroporation mediated by carbon nanotubes and device for putting the method into practice. Italian patent application nr. FI2006A000295, November 24th, 2006; international patent application PCT/IB2007/054754, November 22th, 2007; international patent publication WO 2008/062378, May 29th, 2008; Italian patent nr. 0001369160, January 11th, 2010; US patent application nr. 2010/0035322, February 11th, 2010.