Redefining Microfluidics
DR. VIRGINIA PENSABENE
Virginia Pensabene is a University Academic Fellow at the University of Leeds, where she moved as European Marie Curie Fellow. She is sponsored by NC3Rs, MRC, and Research England, to develop innovative microfluidic system, micro and nanotools for IVF.Pensabene studied Electronic Engineering and completed her PhD in Humanoid Technologies at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT).
As Postdoctoral Research Associate at IIT and then at Biomedical Engineering Department at Vanderbilt University (USA), she developed an organ-on-a-chip model of the blood brain barrier and carried out extensive work on the use of ultrathin film for suturing foetal membranes after foetal surgery. As Research Assistant Professor, she was sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Veterans Affairs Department, for developing microfluidic models of women reproductive system for toxicology studies.
Pensabene co-founded and was CEO of a successful high-tech, medical start-up, filed 4 patents and published more than 50 scientific articles.