ProfessorWojciech Chrzanowski

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) as multifunctional therapeutics & longevity medicine

Focus:

• Design and production of specialised/bespoke EVs to repair and regenerate tissues and to treat rare diseases (e.g. epidermolysis bullosa).
• EVs engineered to modulate immune responses (immuno-regulatory EVs) with repurposing pathways for veterinary applications, functional foods, and cosmeceutical active ingredients.
• EVs targeted towards longevity medicine, aimed at counteracting ageing, supporting healthspan, and promoting healthy ageing in line with Medicine 3.0 principles.

Biomanufacturing & Bioprocessing:

• Development of scalable biomanufacturing/bioprocessing strategies for EVs (upstream cell programming, downstream isolation, enrichment, and formulation).
• Integration of cutting‑edge characterisation tools (e.g., single‑EV profiling, nano‑IR, advanced biophysical/biochemical analytics) to build appropriate quality‑control (QC) procedures and ensure safety, potency and efficacy.
• Establishment of release criteria (identity, purity, function) and in‑process controls aligned with translational standards.

Translational impact:

• EVs as multifunctional therapeutics for immune modulation, anti‑inflammatory repair, anti‑fibrotic remodelling, and precision targeting in tissue regeneration.
• Cross‑sector impact reflecting One Health through human and animal health applications and nutraceutical/cosmeceutical innovation.

New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) with advanced multi‑organ systems

Focus:

• Development of microphysiological systems (MPS) and multi-organ models that replicate human pathophysiology for mechanism-rich, non-animal testing.
• Organ models: lung, gut, immune system, infection models (including host–pathogen dynamics).
• Combined systems: lung–gut–immune integrated platforms for systems-level evaluation of therapeutics, delivery routes (aerosols, oral), and cross-organ signalling.

Age appropriateness:

• Age-appropriate models to reflect paediatric and aged populations, enabling investigation of age-related conditions, immunosenescence, and tissue-specific ageing trajectories.

Real-time quality control & readouts:

• Aligned QC toolsets to continuously assess model functionality and state changes in real time (barrier integrity, mechano‑phenotype, cytokine flux, metabolic status, EV trafficking).
• Use of high‑content imaging, multi-omics, label-free biophysics, and sensor-integrated chips to provide actionable, longitudinal endpoints for efficacy and safety.

Application:

• Therapeutic efficacy screening, dose optimisation, safety assessment, and mechanistic studies in NAMs that reduce reliance on animal models while increasing human relevance.

Nanomedicine & nano‑bio‑characterisation

Focus & capability:

• Comprehensive nano‑bio‑characterisation suite for pioneering single‑particle and single‑EV assessment, including nano‑IR (AFM‑IR), advanced AFM modalities, SPR, qNano, IGC, ATR‑FTIR, high‑resolution fluorescence, live‑cell imaging (IncuCyte), and qPCR.
• Mechanobiology research capability, using cellular and tissue mechanics as key biomarkers of function and for tracking ageing and disease progression.

Innovation:

• Single‑nanoparticle and single‑EV profiling to delineate biophysical fingerprints, cargo composition, surface functionality, and targeting performance.
• Correlative bio-nano analytics (structure–function–mechanics) to understand nanomaterial–cell interactions, biomaterial interfaces, and drug‑delivery performance.

Outcomes:

• Creation of stimuli-responsive drug‑delivery systems and multifunctional biologicals that precisely regulate cell responses.
• Robust nanosafety frameworks backed by functional tissue models (healthy and diseased) to inform safe-by-design nanomaterials and theranostics for controlled, targeted delivery.