About Jasmina
Group Leader of Cell-Instructive Materials Group
Innovating soft materials: Precision scaffolds, green performers, and active matrices
Biography
Jasmina Gačanin, prize holder of Karl-von-Frisch-Preis (VBiO) and Scheffel-Preis (Literarische Gesellschaft), received her B.Sc. (2013) and M.Sc. (2015) degrees in Biochemistry, Ulm University, Germany, as a scholarship holder of the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”. Following, she developed multifunctional hydrogels for medicine during her dissertation in the group of Prof. Dr. Tanja Weil at Ulm University and graduated with summa cum laude in 2020. Jasmina continued her work as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Weil at the MPI-P in Mainz as project responsible at the MPI-P, within the framework of two industrial cooperations: BMBF projects "Next Generation Injectable, Adaptive Hydrogels" (InGel-NxG) and "New bio-based rheology modifiers” (Kosmogel). In 2023, Jasmina has been appointed as a “Peretti-Schmucker Fellow”, with the position donated by The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation. The research project will address an urgent need in the treatment of skin through newly developed innovative biomaterials – hydrogel-cell formulations as living biomaterials for the next-generation treatment of skin related conditions, wound healing, or tissue engineering.
In 2023, Jasmina was appointed as a group leader at MPI-P and leads the new cell-instructive materials group focusing on the development of multifunctional 3D biohybrid materials for medical applications, with focus on regenerative medicine and personal care. Since 2024, Jasmina is project partner within another BMBF-funded collaboration with partners from academia (TUDa, NMI) and mentors from industry: “HEAL-X BIOINK”, self-healing, bio-inspired hydrogel platform for next generation 3D bioprinting. Her group is working on the sub-project “Synthesis of mammalian cell-compatible hydrogels for 3D printing” and is focusing on the development (design, synthesis, characterization) of hydrogels and their components, as well as the material/cell interactions, and finally their combination to functional, self-healing and printable hydrogels as HEAL-X Bioink. In the same year, she started supporting the Catalight A08 project. This year, as a continuation to Kosmogel, Clariant Personal Care and the Cell-Instrucive Materials group continue their close collaboration on a new project “Eco-Rheo NxG” for the development of sustainable rheology modifiers.
Contact:
- gacanin@mpip-mainz.mpg.de;
- 06131 379 311
Profession
2023 - Present: Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
2023 - 2024: Peretti-Schmucker Fellow, by The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
2022: Postdoctoral Researcher - Research Stay (May-Aug), Clariant Innovation Center - Industrial & Consumer Specialties, Frankfurt, Germany.
2020 - 2023: Postdoctoral and Senior Postdoctoral researcher, Project Responsible for two BMBF-funded projects at the MPI-P, Dept. Prof. Weil, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Education
Okt 2015 - Jun 2020: Dr. rer. nat. (summa cum laude), Ulm University, Germany jointly at the MPI-P, Mainz
2010 - 2015: B.Sc. and M.Sc., Biochemistry, Ulm University, Germany, as a scholarship holder of the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”.
Honors/Awards
2023: Peretti-Schmucker Fellow (The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation)
2021: Award: best oral presentation "Supramolecular crosslinking: Advanced hydrogels for tissue engineering", SupraBio Konferenz (Online), May 2021.
2020: Poster award 3rd place “Crosslinking materials for responsive hydrogels designed for use in inflammatory joint disease treatment” – GDCh Online Ceremony for 100 years polymer science and twitter poster session (Online), September 2020.
2020: 10 % the most frequently downloaded works in 2018-2019, WILEY: i) Gačanin, J. et al. „Autonomous Ultrafast Self‐Healing Hydrogels by pH‐Responsive Functional Nanofiber Gelators as Cell Matrices“, Adv. Mater., 2019, 31, 1805044 and ii) Gačanin, J. et al. “Biomedical Applications of DNA‐Based Hydrogels“
Adv. Funct. Mater., 2019, 1906253.
2011 - 2015: Scholarship (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
2010: Karl-von-Frisch-Award (VBiO - Verband Biologie, Biowissenschaften & Biomedizin in Deutschland,(Association for Biology, Biosciences & Biomedicine in Germany)).
2010: Scheffel-Award (Deutsche Literarische Gesellschaft (German Literary Society)).