Group Members

Lucas Caire da Silva earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Campinas (Brazil) in 2010. In 2011, he joined the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Kenneth Wagener at the University of Florida to perform his PhD research on the synthesis of precision polyolefins and the study of polymer dynamics by solid-state NMR. In 2016, Lucas began his postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. Dr. Katharina Landfester at the MPI for Polymer Research. His research interests included the development of nested nanoparticle-in-vesicle systems for hierarchical catalysis. Since 2020, he has been conducting research as a group leader on bioinspired cell-like systems with a focus on the development of multicompartment microreactors, adaptive colloidal systems, and artificial organelles.

Thao P. Doan-Nguyen received her BSc in Pharmacy from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Hochiminh City (Vietnam) and her MSc in Nanomedicine from the University of Angers (France). She joined Prof. Daniel Crespy's group at Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (Thailand) in 2019 as a PhD student working on colloidal nanocarriers for biomedical applications. Thao P. Doan-Nguyen is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Dr. Lucas Caire da Silva at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, working on artificial cell development.

I am interested in the engineering of adaptive cell mimics with life-like features using techniques ranging from synthetic chemistry to polymeric assembly, as well as biochemistry. Integrating adaptive behaviors with synthetic systems is an exciting way to create smart complex and biomimetic systems. Potential applications of this technology includes smart biomimetic systems that can be utilized as bioreactors.

My research involves developing artificial cell-like systems that mimic the structure and functionality of living cells. I am particularly interested in creating artificial cells that can communicate with each other by sending and receiving signals. We employ the techniques of bottom-up synthetic biology by utilizing non-living components as building blocks for our systems. Communication is key to advance the understanding of the field on how to build an artificial cell.

Heloísa Bremm Madalosso received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil) in 2018 and is a PhD student in chemical engineering at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil). Her research interests focus on the synthesis of polymeric biomaterials by ring-opening polymerization and the study of biobased monomers. Through polymer functionalization and bioconjugation with biomacromolecules such as peptides and proteins, her work aims to develop a novel and versatile biomaterial platform that meets the needs of biomedical applications, such as the development of scaffolds for tissue engineering and nanocarriers for drug delivery.

You? Contact us if you are interested in joining our team. We are always looking for talented people with a passion for research and science.