“Massimo Vassalli graduated in physics from the University of Florence and later completed an interdisciplinary PhD in “nonlinear dynamics and complex systems”. He is internationally recognised for the development of biophysical methods to study mechanics at the nanoscale, and its impact on cell physiology. He is Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Glasgow where he serves as Director of Impact for the James Watt School of Engineering. His laboratory is part of the Centre for the Cellular Microenvironment (CeMi) and is located within the Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre. He has worked as Endeavour Research Fellow at the Victor Chang Research Institute in Sydney (Australia) and ETH Zurich (Switzerland) as a SNF Fellow. He has spent time as invited scientist at different international institutions in France, Italy and the UK. In the last 10 years, Massimo Vassalli has been working on the development of nanoengineering tools for the study of cell mechanobiology with an angle of translating research findings towards the market. In this context, he developed several long-lasting collaborations with major industrial players. Using Atomic Force Microscopy, he has studied biological systems at different scales, from single molecules to cells and tissues. He is interested in understanding how cells sense mechanical stimuli, and the impact of mechanosensing in physiology and pathology.”
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