The interface between nanosystems and biosystems is emerging as one of the broadest and most dynamic areas of science and technology, bringing together biology, chemistry, physics and many areas of engineering, biotechnology, and medicine. This talk will be focused on the nano- and sub-micron scale modification of surfaces and interfaces in order to yield improved performances or novel properties for life sciences.








We develop nano-structured surfaces and nanoporous films using novel methods of structure origination such as self-assembly, replication methods of nano-scale structures in plastics, and coatings from sol-gel films with tunable nano-porosity. Application-specific functionalization is added e.g. by introducing guest materials in nanoporous layers, by chemically modifying the surface or by means of nano-scale conformal coatings to modify wetting and adhesion properties. The performance of the obtained materials and components is then fully evaluated, integrated the components in application-related, specifically designed systems if necessary.
In this talk, a few specific examples will be described: nano-structured surfaces and coatings for cell culture and biodiagnostic, and thin films developed as in situ sensors for e.g. cell culture.

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Bio

Gaëlle Andreatta is an expert in surface coating and surface structuring at CSEM SA in Neuchâtel. She joined the Nanoscale Technology team in January 2013 and has since been working on surface modification techniques for various applications such as bio-sensing, tribology, wetting, and adhesion. She previously worked in the biotechnological industry at Oxford Nanopore Technologies (UK), developing new surfaces for next generation DNA sequencing involving a multidisciplinary knowledge of surface and interfacial chemistry, biomimetic systems, bioengineering and protein technologies. She was moreover in charge of the technological transfer from the research team to the engineering and development teams. She investigated during her doctoral thesis new methods for the self-organisation of nanoparticles and surface deposition in Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA Saclay) in France. She was in 2007 the recipient of the PhD award “For Women in Science” jointly presented by L’Oréal – Unesco – the French “Académie des Sciences”. She is currently working on the development of nanostructured materials and surface modification for materials science and life science applications while coordinating various industrial and public projects.