Two projects co-led by ICN2 researchers receive 2021 BIST Ignite Awards

by Virginia Greco

The projects MAKI and QEE2DUP will receive 50,000 euros each to further advance the results obtained during the first seeding phase of the BIST Ignite programme.

The MAKI project, led by Dr Gemma Aragay (ICIQ-Institut Català d'Investigació Química) and Dr Ruslán Álvarez (ICN2-Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology), and the QEE2DUP project, led by Dr Roshan Krishna Kumar (ICFO-Institute of Photonic Sciences) and Dr José Ramon Durán (ICN2), have been assigned the 2021 BIST Ignite Award. Selected in the "seed" phase of the 2019 edition of the BIST Ignite Programme, they have been recognised as the two most promising projects out of the five. The prize consists of 50,000 euros (for each project) to start a second research phase intended to further advance the results already obtained. The 2021 BIST Ignite Awards ceremony will be held on April 5 at the La Pedrera Auditorium (Barcelona).

The BIST Ignite programme is an initiative that was launched in 2016 by the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) to promote multidisciplinary research through collaborations between groups from different BIST centres. The programme has already invested more than one million euros in cutting-edge research projects, some of which have shown great potential for transfer to the market and have become international collaborations.

Since the inception of the BIST Ignite programme, 10 BIST Ignite Awards (THEIA, INWOC, GENSTORM, ENGUT, Q-SPET, PHASE-CHROM, BIOSPAD, BIOVAC, MAKI and QEE2DUP) have been conferred, including the two presently announced. These projects were selected from among 28 participating in the initial phase, which were funded through yearly competitive calls. In total, these projects received 1,010,000 euros in funding from BIST and have involved more than 200 researchers.

MAKI

The aim of the MAKI project, led by postdoctoral researchers Dr Gemma Aragay, from the Catalan Institute for Chemical Research (ICIQ), and Dr Ruslán Álvarez from the ICN2 Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group —who has taken over from Dr Claudio Parolo (ICN2), co-leader in the first phase—, is to develop a device capable of detecting two combined biomarkers of acute kidney injury (AKI) quickly and effectively. AKI is a common complication after major surgeries. It can appear within hours or days and can impact other organs or even lead to death if not treated quickly. Measuring creatinine in urine (uCRE) is currently the best way to test kidney function, but recent studies have shown that measuring uCRE simultaneously with another urinary biomarker called Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin (uNGAL) is more reliable and accurate. The MAKI project has set out to develop a portable sensor attached to a urinary catheter to monitor CRE and NGAL levels in patients.

During the seeding phase of the project, researchers combined multidisciplinary expertise to begin developing two independent but complementary sensors for NGAL and CRE. Preliminary results showed promising outcomes in both independent approaches and will inform the second stage of the project, which will include the measurement of CRE and NGAL at the solid-liquid interphase and move to artificial and real urine, bringing the project closer to developing a portable device.

QEE2DUP

The QEE2DUP project, led by Dr Roshan Krishna Kumar, from ICFO-Institute of Photonic Sciences, and Dr José Ramon Durán, postdoctoral researcher in the Atomic Manipulation and Spectroscopy Group —who take over the leadership of Dr Antoine Reserbat-Plantey (ICFO) and Dr César Moreno (ICN2) during the seeding phase— has set out to design a new material based on atomically precise graphene nanostructures that could increase communications security and amp up quantum computing capabilities through a new way of designing “quantum chips”. With the 2019 BIST Ignite Grant, the group has begun this ambitious project by attempting to confine excitons — which are bound states of an electron and electron hole — in 2D materials to create quantum light sources. The project has generated discussions about these so-called single photon light sources – a growing field of interest – leading to a publication in ACS Photonics in 2021.

During the project’s first phase, the researchers performed exciton measurements using a micro-cryo-photoluminescence technique and a state-of-the-art nano-electron-spectroscopy technique (through facilities grants at the Molecular Foundry User Facility in California and the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides in France). During the second phase, the group plans to further explore and confine excitons in the 2D material MoSe2, which could lead to novel exciton trapping mechanisms and even in situ control of quantum light