News

PhD student Milica Zivanic has been chosen as representative of the UPC for the "Present your thesis in 4 minutes" competition, organized by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation, with the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

PlasmaMED lab's latest publication, "Does non-thermal plasma modify biopolymers in solution? A chemical and mechanistic study for alginate" by F. Tampieri et al, has made it to the front cover at Biomaterials Science JCR's indexed journal.

PhD student Xavi Solé Martí successfully presented his doctoral thesis on the "Effects of cold atmospheric plasmas on biomaterials: hydrogels and composites with calcium phosphates", co-directed by Dra. Cristina Canal and Prof. Maria-Pau Ginebra, on July 13th, 2023

Recently, the PlasmaMed Lab has published an article in El País,, one of Spain's main newspapers, answering the question of a reader: "What are cold plasmas used for in some medical treatments?".

Dr. Cristina Canal, Dr. Albert Espona, Dr. Francesco Tampieri and PhD students Milica Zivanic, Alfio Arcoria and Rachel LeBlanc have recently attended the 2nd Annual Meeting of the COST Action “PlasTHER: Therapeutical Applications of Cold Plasmas”, held in Bologna (Italy) in September 4th – 7th, 2023.

The Special Issue on Plasma Medicine (Part I) focuses on the diverse range of applications and advancements in the field of plasma medicine and provides excellent examples of ideas and applications where plasma could potentially be employed to revolutionize healthcare.

"Oxidation of Lactate to Pyruvate Mediates the Cytotoxic Potential of Physical Plasma-Treated Saline Solutions in Ovarian Cancer" is a new paper, published by former PhD student Cristiana Bucci and Doctors Francesco Tampieri, Miguel Mateu-Sanz, Romolo Laurita, Vittorio Colombo and Cristina Canal at Plasma Processes and Polymers, exploring the potential of plasma-treated saline solutions as a novel approach in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer, a prevalent gynecological tumor associated with poor prognosis and frequent recurrences.

Dr. Cristina Canal has been one of the few funded projects by Barcelona Deep Tech Node (Ajuntament de Barcelona) with her proposal "CP4C: Cold atmospheric Plasma technology for Cancer treatment".

The second part of the special issue on Plasma Medicine has been published in Plasma Processes and Polymers and focuses on the interdisciplinary nature that is intrinsic in this field. Plasma medicine combines, at its heart, elements of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering.

The project, which focused on strengthening tertiary education skills through targeted training, has been an innovative effort between universities and organizations, has contibuted to fostering and enhancing digital and green skills in higher education.