Fulfilling to work in a field where you can help people achieve better health

Gabriele Boretti, a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at Reykjavík University, recently received a grant from the Helga Jónsdóttir and Sigurliði Kristjánsson Memorial Fund. In support of students in engineering and natural sciences studies.

In his doctoral project, Gabriele is developing research at the forefront of tissue engineering, combining biomaterials and cells with 3D bioprinting to produce patient-specific cartilage tissue. This approach aims to advance the development and testing of living, functional tissue that could support new strategies for cartilage repair and drug testing.

Gabriele’s supervisor is Dr. Ólafur Eysteinn Sigurjónsson, a researcher and Dean of the School of Technology at Reykjavík. Gabriele is also co-supervised by Professor Paolo Gargiulo, a leading researcher in biomedical engineering at Reykjavík University, and the project is carried out in collaboration with the Icelandic Blood Bank, bringing together expertise in biomaterials, cell-based methods, and translational development.

I came here originally to do my master´s thesis project, supervised by Óli and Paolo. I was studying biomedical engineering at the University of Bologna in Italy. I stayed here for eight months. At the beginning, I worked mostly in Paolo´s lab and in the electronics lab, where Hannes helped me develop a bioreactor. Then I tested this bioreactor with stem cells in The Blood bank under the supervision of Óli. This was interesting because I had the opportunity to work in many different laboratories and learn a lot. I had the possibility to work with Paolo’s team and the 3D printing lab, in the electronics lab and machine shop at Reykjavik University, and then in the cell lab at The Iceland Blood Bank. It was busy and fun.

Gabriele then returned to Italy and completed his master´s studies, continuing to work as a research assistant at RU. He then met his Icelandic girlfriend Alma and decided to stay in Iceland. He worked at Alvotech for half a year, then started his PhD with Óli as soon as the opportunity arose.

I have always been interested in 3D bioprinting, a manufacturing technique for creating biological constructs. The futuristic idea would be to print organs, such as hearts, livers, or kidneys, which are in high demand and have long waiting lists, especially with the population ageing.

The 3D tissues are then matured in a bioreactor, a system that simulates in vivo conditions in a laboratory. This, of course, demands lots of work, and often things do not work.

Gabriele is happy with the facilities at RU and within the biomechanics department at HÍ, where he has also used and borrowed some equipment. He also often conducts his research at Læknagarður, the Blood bank, and Landspítali, performing various tests.

I think what I love most about my research is its multidisciplinary nature. I can ask so many different people for advice on the subject I need at any given moment and learn from the specialists. It is fulfilling to work in this field because you can help people achieve better health. When we grow older, cartilage often degenerates, and osteoarthritis, for instance, is quite common. The problem is that our joints do not regenerate on their own, so we are trying to grow new cartilage artificially. I hope that one day my research will have an impact on global health by enabling the generation of healthy cartilage suitable for human implantation.

In March, Gabriele will travel to Taipei, Taiwan, for a three-month Erasmus student exchange, and then plans to defend his research in October. He has been inspired by Óli and Paolo, who work both in research and academia, and he would love to do something similar in the future.

I would like to do a postdoc and continue this path. I am happy in Iceland, and I have been lucky to work with Paolo, who has a very tight-knit and vibrant Italian community around him in RU, as well as Óli and other supervisors and students with whom I have worked in my research.