Doctoral student Nikolina Kalčec and dr.sc. Ivan Pavičić are currently staying at the Bio21 Institute in Melbourne, Australia as part of a joint project called “Safe approach for the development of nano-systems for the targeted delivery of drugs to the brain – SENDER” headed by dr.sc. Ivana Vinković Vrček and co-leader prof. emer. Frances Separovic. The project was financed within the framework of the Cooperation Program with Croatian scientists in the diaspora “Scientific Cooperation” implemented by the Croatian Science Foundation. During their two months of visiting at the Bio21 Institute, under the guidance of prof. emer. Frances Separovic and dr.sc. Marc-Antoine Sania, doctoral student Kalčec and dr.sc. Pavičić, will learn about techniques such as solid-state NMR spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry and circular dichroism. Using these devices, they will monitor the interactions of differently functionalized gold and selenium nanoparticles with lipids present in the blood-brain barrier. These experiments will provide information about the complex events that take place at the nano-bio interface and help clarify the passage of nanoparticles through the blood-brain barrier. The researcher’s stay at the collaborating institution will be of great importance for the successful implementation of the SENDER project, and we hope that the obtained results will enable joint publication and continued cooperation.
