creating a
healthier future
Pedro Granja
Group leader

Pedro L. Granja was born in 1970, in Porto, Portugal. His high school studies took place in Porto (Portugal) and São Paulo (Brazil). He graduated in Metallurgical Engineering at the Univ. Porto (UP) in 1993 and obtained his PhD in Engineering Sciences, also from UP, in 2001, as a result of studies carried out at Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica (INEB, UP) and INSERM U.443 (presently U1026, Biotis, Univ. Bordeaux, France). He carried out post-doctoral studies at INEB, was Invited Visiting Scientist at Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Enginnering the Univ. Michigan (presently at Harvard Univ., USA, 2004) and Invited Professor at the Laboratoire de Biomatériaux et Polymères de Spécialité(CSPBAT), Univ. Paris 13 (France, 2009). He is presently Leader of the Biofabrication Group at Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S, UP).

His research interests lie at the intersection between materials science, biology and medicine, namely on the development of biomaterials for biofabrication using principles and tools from tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. His research work has been focused on the molecular design of biofunctional hydrogels as 3D biomimics of the extracellular matrix. He received the 2006 Jean Leray Award by the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB) and is internationally reputed as founder (1998) and Editor-in-Chief of the Biomaterials Network (Biomat.net). He was recentlydistinguished as Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE, 2020) by the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE). Moreover, he serves as expert for several national and international funding agencies, organizations and companies. So far, he has authored more than 125 articles in international indexed journals, 2 books, 11 book chapters, 2 patents and presented over 170 invited lectures worldwide. His publications have been cited almost 10 000 times (Google Scholar; h-index of 55).

Selected Publications

Ferreira D.A., Conde J.P., Rothbauer M., Ertl P., Granja P.L., Oliveira C.
Bioinspired human stomach-on-a-chip with in vivo like function and architecture. Lab on a Chip23(3):495-510, 2023. [Journal: Article] [CI: 10] [IF: 6.1]
DOI: 10.1039/d2lc01132h SCOPUS: 85146176758

Redondo M., Presa R., Granja P.L., Araújo M., Sousa A.
Konjac glucomannan photocrosslinked hydrogels for in vitro 3D cell culture. Materials Today Chemistry34:, 2023. [Journal: Article] [CI: 2] [IF: 7,3 (*)]
DOI: 10.1016/j.mtchem.2023.101761 SCOPUS: 85174210144

Dias J.R., Sousa A., Augusto A., Bártolo P.J., Granja P.L.
Electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL) Degradation: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study. Polymers14(16):, 2022. [Journal: Article] [CI: 69] [IF: 5]
DOI: 10.3390/polym14163397 SCOPUS: 85137541357

Brás M.M., Cruz T.B., Maia A.F., Oliveira M.J., Sousa S.R., Granja P.L., Radmacher M.
Mechanical Properties of Colorectal Cancer Cells Determined by Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy: A Novel Biomarker. Cancers14(20):, 2022. [Journal: Article] [CI: 7] [IF: 5,2]
DOI: 10.3390/cancers14205053 SCOPUS: 85140627715

Ferreira D.A., Rothbauer M., Conde J.P., Ertl P., Oliveira C., Granja P.L.
A Fast Alternative to Soft Lithography for the Fabrication of Organ-on-a-Chip Elastomeric-Based Devices and Microactuators. Advanced Science8(8):, 2021. [Journal: Article] [CI: 22] [IF: 17,5]
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202003273 SCOPUS: 85100571451

Lourenço B.N., Pereira R.F., Barrias C.C., Fischbach C., Oliveira C., Granja P.L.
Engineering modular half-antibody conjugated nanoparticles for targeting CD44v6-expressing cancer cells. Nanomaterials11(2):1-16, 2021. [Journal: Article] [CI: 11] [IF: 5,7]
DOI: 10.3390/nano11020295 SCOPUS: 85099747153

Pereira R.F., Lourenço B.N., Bártolo P.J., Granja P.L.
Bioprinting a Multifunctional Bioink to Engineer Clickable 3D Cellular Niches with Tunable Matrix Microenvironmental Cues. Advanced Healthcare Materials10(2):, 2021. [Journal: Article] [CI: 17] [IF: 11,1]
DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202001176 SCOPUS: 85094651302

Pereira C., Ferreira D., Mendes N., Granja P.L., Almeida G.M., Oliveira C.
Expression of CD44V6-containing isoforms influences cisplatin response in gastric cancer cells. Cancers12(4):, 2020. [Journal: Article] [CI: 13] [IF: 6,6]
DOI: 10.3390/cancers12040858 SCOPUS: 85083265801

Bauleth-Ramos T., Feijão T., Gonçalves A., Shahbazi M.A., Liu Z., Barrias C., Oliveira M.J., Granja P., Santos H.A., Sarmento B.
Colorectal cancer triple co-culture spheroid model to assess the biocompatibility and anticancer properties of polymeric nanoparticles. Journal of Controlled Release323:398-411, 2020. [Journal: Article] [CI: 45] [IF: 9,8]
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.04.025 SCOPUS: 85084193413

Melo S.F., Neves S.C., Pereira A.T., Borges I., Granja P.L., Magalhães F.D., Gonçalves I.C.
Incorporation of graphene oxide into poly(ɛ-caprolactone) 3D printed fibrous scaffolds improves their antimicrobial properties. Materials Science and Engineering C109:, 2020. [Journal: Article] [CI: 34] [IF: 7,3]
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.110537 SCOPUS: 85077755863

Neves S.C., Moroni L., Barrias C.C., Granja P.L.
Leveling Up Hydrogels: Hybrid Systems in Tissue Engineering. Trends in Biotechnology38(3):292-315, 2020. [Journal: Review] [CI: 73] [IF: 19,5]
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.09.004 SCOPUS: 85075891574

Crisóstomo J., Araújo F., Granja P., Barrias C., Sarmento B., Seiça R.
Increasing levels of insulin secretion in bioartificial pancreas technology: co-encapsulation of beta cells and nanoparticles containing GLP-1 in alginate hydrogels. Health and Technology10(4):885-890, 2020. [Journal: Article] [CI: 5]
DOI: 10.1007/s12553-020-00427-4 SCOPUS: 85083827298

Crisóstomo J., Pereira A.M., Bidarra S.J., Gonçalves A.C., Granja P.L., Coelho J.F.J., Barrias C.C., Seiça R.
ECM-enriched alginate hydrogels for bioartificial pancreas: an ideal niche to improve insulin secretion and diabetic glucose profile. Journal of Applied Biomaterials and Functional Materials17(4):, 2019. [Journal: Article] [CI: 13] [IF: 2]
DOI: 10.1177/2280800019848923 SCOPUS: 85073602290

Pereira R.F., Barrias C.C., Bártolo P.J., Granja P.L.
Cell-instructive pectin hydrogels crosslinked via thiol-norbornene photo-click chemistry for skin tissue engineering. Acta Biomaterialia66:282-293, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 143] [IF: 6,6]
DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2017.11.016 SCOPUS: 85034850058

Lourenço B.N., dos Santos T., Oliveira C., Barrias C.C., Granja P.L.
Bioengineering a novel 3D in vitro model of gastric mucosa for stomach permeability studies. Acta Biomaterialia82:68-78, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 13] [IF: 6,6]
DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2018.10.007 SCOPUS: 85055110280

Pereira R.F., Sousa A., Barrias C.C., Bártolo P.J., Granja P.L.
A single-component hydrogel bioink for bioprinting of bioengineered 3D constructs for dermal tissue engineering. Materials Horizons5(6):1100-1111, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 106] [IF: 14,4]
DOI: 10.1039/c8mh00525g SCOPUS: 85055847804

Costa-Almeida R., Soares R., Granja P.L.
Fibroblasts as maestros orchestrating tissue regeneration. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine12(1):240-251, 2018. [Journal: Review] [CI: 60] [IF: 3,3]
DOI: 10.1002/term.2405 SCOPUS: 85019570228

Kennedy P.J., Perreira I., Ferreira D., Nestor M., Oliveira C., Granja P.L., Sarmento B.
Impact of surfactants on the target recognition of Fab-conjugated PLGA nanoparticles. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics127:366-370, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 17] [IF: 4,7]
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2018.03.005 SCOPUS: 85043984392

Bauman E., Granja P.L., Barrias C.C.
Fetal bovine serum-free culture of endothelial progenitor cells—progress and challenges. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine12(7):1567-1578, 2018. [Journal: Review] [CI: 14] [IF: 3,3]
DOI: 10.1002/term.2678 SCOPUS: 85047800781

Kennedy P.J., Sousa F., Ferreira D., Pereira C., Nestor M., Oliveira C., Granja P.L., Sarmento B.
Fab-conjugated PLGA nanoparticles effectively target cancer cells expressing human CD44v6. Acta Biomaterialia81:208-218, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 35] [IF: 6,6]
DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2018.09.043 SCOPUS: 85054155176

Lourenço B.N., Springer N.L., Ferreira D., Oliveira C., Granja P.L., Fischbach C.
CD44v6 increases gastric cancer malignant phenotype by modulating adipose stromal cell-mediated ECM remodeling. Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro10(3):145-158, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 22] [IF: 2,8]
DOI: 10.1039/c7ib00179g SCOPUS: 85044245768