Dr Damià Viana wins a CERCA Pioneer Award 2021 for his doctoral thesis

by Virginia Greco

His research on porous graphene-based neural interfaces was directed by ICN2 group leader ICREA Prof. José Garrido.

Dr Damià Viana has been assigned a CERCA Pioneer Award 2021 for his PhD thesis titled " EGNITE: Engineered Graphene for Neural Interface", developed in the ICN2 ICN2 Advanced Electronic Materials and Devices Group, under the tutorship of group leader ICREA Prof. José A. Garrido. Dr Viana is currently neural engineer at INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, a spin-off company of ICN2 and ICREA which aims at bringing graphene-based neural interfaces to the market and, thus, the clinical environment.

The jury assessed that the technology presented in the thesis, in which microelectrodes based on a porous graphene material (EGNITE) are developed for high performance bidirectional neural interfaces, has optimal applications in neural therapy, among others, a great potential for impact and a maturity (technology readiness level) very close to the market.

The proposal shows the preliminary biocompatibility results of the material and presents in vivo proof-of-concept experiments with devices containing EGNITE microelectrode matrices that allow high-fidelity recording of epicortical electrical activity, stimulate neural muscle activity with high selectivity and test a new generation of retinal implants that have the potential to restore vision with high resolution in blind patients.

A CERCA Pioneer Award 2021 was also assigned to Dr Eduard Masvidal Codina, who carried out his research under the tutorship of Prof. Antonio Garrido as well –and of Dr Anton Guimerà (IMB-CNM, CSIC)—, and Dr Patricia Ramírez Priego, whose thesis project was coordinated by Prof. Laura Lechuga, leader of the ICN2 NanoBiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group.

The jury was composed of: Melba Navarro, Technology Transfer Expert at CIMNE Tecnologia; Nadia Pons, Director of the Health Entrepreneurship Program at the Barcelona Medical Association; Núria Martí, Director of Innovation at Biocat; Manuel Palacín, Director of The Collider programme at Mobile World Capital Barcelona; Julià Manzanas, Regional Business Development Manager for Southern Europe at AREOPA Group International and President of the Knowledge Economy and Innovation Committee of the Col-legi d'Economistes de Catalunya; and Joan Sansaloni, Head of the Industrial and Intellectual Property unit at ACCIÓ.

The award ceremony will take place on 20 December at 12pm in an online format on the CERCA YouTube channel.