ALBERTO
PARDO MONTERO

I started my research career by developing my PhD in the Colloids and Polymers Physics Group (GFCP) at the Univ. Santiago de Compostela under the supervision of Prof. Pablo Taboada and Dr. Silvia Barbosa. During this period, I opened a new research line in the group focused on the design and characterization of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with optimal physicochemical properties for their application in different biomedical areas such as magnetic hyperthermia and magnetic resonance imaging. The use of the designed MNPs as adsorbent agents for wastewater bioremediation purposes was also evaluated. As main novelties, I performed an exhaustive analysis about the effect of metallic doping over the properties/applications of MNPs and described the biomedical performance of cubic-shaped MNPs with ferrimagnetic behavior. I also demonstrated that small-sized MNPs obtained by thermal decomposition can adsorb/remove impressive amounts of heavy metal-based pollutants form wastewater environments. My PhD was interdisciplinary, covering also works on the synthesis, modification and characterization of block copolymers as well as on the preparation of other metallic nanoparticles for therapeutic purposes. During my doctoral step, I moved for three months to the Univ. Marburg (Germany) under the supervision of Prof. Wolfgang J. Parak, where I learned the polymer coating technologies for which Parak’s laboratory is recognized worldwide. After concluding my PhD, on May 2019 I joined 3B’s Research Group (Univ. Minho, Portugal), firstly with a contract derived from the European Research Council Consolidator Grant MagTendon and then with a competitive postdoctoral contract from Galicia Government until May 2023. This new position gave me the opportunity to bring my expertise on the design of magnetic materials to the area of tissue engineering. In this step, my research interest covered the combination of highly responsive magnetic materials with magnetically- and support bath-assisted 3D bioprinting and tissue engineering strategies to obtain hybrid hydrogels with biomimetic anisotropic architectures for tendon regeneration applications. After four years of international postdoctoral stage, my research was judged positively by the evaluating agencies to receive an extension of my fellowship until April 2025 to continue my work back at the GFCP. Currently, my research interest covers the introduction of tissue engineering research line in the group and the design and biomedical application of magnetoelectric nanoparticles. In summary, my research is highly multidisciplinary, being framed at the interface between physics, material science and biomedicine, always focused on the design and application of advanced magnetic materials. The work performed during my scientific career led to the publication of 1 book chapter and 28 research papers (23/5 articles in Q1/Q2 journals with 8 in the first decile; 8 articles as first author, corresponding author in 5), accumulating 760 citations (h-index 13). Moreover, I have presented more than 40 contributions to national and international conferences, including 1 invited talk and 12 oral presentations, also participating in different divulgation seminars. I was also involved in obtaining funding (more than 2.4 million €) through 1 knowledge transfer contract and 12 competitive research projects in international and national calls.