CHIRI’s Dr Hani Al-Salami, with collaborators Dr Walter Minnella from France and Katrin Borrmann from Germany.
Two European pharmaceutical company researchers have travelled across the world as part of a new bio-nanotechnology based industrial partnership with the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI).
Dr Walter Minnella, a physicist from pharmaceutical company Elvesys in Paris, France and Dr Katrin Borrmann, from MARCOTECH oHG in Muenster, Germany are working in collaboration with CHIRI diabetes researcher Dr Hani Al-Salami, whose team is committed to identifying new therapies for diabetes and age-related diseases using novel bio-nanotechnologies and pharmaceutical formulation delivery systems.
Walter, who is a scientist and a field-application specialist, is on a two-month placement at CHIRI, overseeing nanotechnological microchip (lab-on-a-chip) testing for the treatment of diabetes. He received his PhD from the University of Bordeaux (France) under the European Training Network focused on label-free cell sorting, and is an expert in microfluidics and microchips/PCR technologies.
Katrin Borrmann, a chemist and a researcher at Westphalian Wilhelms University, is with CHIRI for a one-month placement. As an expert in hydrophilic nanoencapsulation of antioxidants and the development of novel therapeutics for chronic injuries/wounds, she is overseeing testing of nanotechnological formulations using industrial standards.
Both placements are part of collaborative projects funded by their companies and a European Union (EU) Research and Innovation program to encourage world-class science by removing barriers to knowledge, research and innovation thorough the likes of research partnerships and networking.
Walter’s collaboration with Hani is supported by funding from the EU Horizon 2020 and Elvesys Microfluidic Innovation Centre. Katrin and Hani’s collaboration is part of a joint project between MARCOTECH oHG and Westphalian Wilhelms University, supported by funding from the EU Horizon 2020 and MARCOTECH oHG.
Katrin is thrilled with the opportunity to network with CHIRI’s researchers and to see new methods explored.
For Walter, experiencing a university-based research institute and CHIRI’s research focus on age-associated diseases and disorders are of particular interest with one of his company’s start-up projects exploring the latest discoveries in the field of life prolongation. While CHIRI’s research focused is on quality of life rather than longevity, the mutual interest in age-related health research is a fascinating link between the collaborators.
