Professor Nicola Tirelli

Since August 2010, Professor Nicola Tirelli has held a joint appointment as a Professor of Polymers and Biomaterials in the School of Biomedicine (MHS) and the School of Materials (EPS). He joined The University of Manchester in December 2004 as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He was promoted to Chair of Polymers and Biomaterials in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2006.

Previously, he was Oberassistent, a position largely analogous to that of a Lecturer, at the ETH Zurich, Department of Materials, Institute of Biomedical Engineering headed at the time by Jeff Hubbell (12/98-12/02).

• Our research focus is on the molecular design and processing of polymeric materials for biomedical applications, what we generally call 'biomaterials'. Specifically, we are interested in the molecular design of (nano)materials that interact with a biological environment in responsive fashion: responsive release of active principles (drugs) from nanocarriers, bioresponsive formation of tissue engineering matrices.

• Ping Hu, Nicola Tirelli. (2011). Inter-micellar dynamics in block copolymer micelles: FRET experiments of macroamphiphile and payload exchange. Reactive and Functional Polymers, 71, eScholarID:103632 | DOI:10.1016/j.reactfunctpolym.2010.10.010
• Wilda Helen, Piero de Leonardis, Rein Ulijn, Julie Gough, Nicola Tirelli. (2011). Mechanosensitive peptide gelation: mode of agitation controls mechanical properties and nano-scale morphology. Soft Matter, 7, 1732-1740. eScholarID:103618 | DOI:10.1039/C0SM00649A
• N.M. Zaki, N. Tirelli. (2010). Gateways for the intracellular access of nanocarriers: a review of receptor-mediated endocytosis mechanisms and of strategies in receptor targeting. Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 7(8), 895-913. eScholarID:95665 | DOI:10.1517/17425247.2010.501792
• Liu R, De Leonardis P, Cellesi F, Tirelli N, Saunders BR. (2009). Temperature-Triggered Gelation of Aqueous Laponite Dispersions Containing a Cationic Poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) Graft Copolymer. Langmuir, 25, 1, 490-496. eScholarID:1d17629
• R. Liu, Cellesi F, Tirelli N, B.R. Saunders. (2009). A study of thermoassociative gelation of aqueous cationic poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) graft copolymer solutions. Polymer, 50, 6, 1456-1462. eScholarID:1d18896
• Vo Cong Duan, Kilcher G, Tirelli N. (2009). Polymers and Sulfur: what are OrganicPolysulfides Good For? Preparative Strategiesand Biological Applications. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 30, 299-315. eScholarID:1d19785 | DOI:10.1002/marc.200800740
• R. Liu, Tirelli N, Cellesi F, B. R. Saunders. (2008). Cationic temperature-responsive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) graft copolymers: from triggered association to gelation. Langmuir, 24(14), 7099-7106. eScholarID:1d18239
• Kilcher G, Wang L, Duckham C, Tirelli N. (2007). Polysulfide networks. In situ formation and characterisation of the elastomeric behaviour. Macromolecules, 40, 5141 - 5149. eScholarID:1d16184
• MissirlisD, HubbellJ.A, Tirelli N. (2006). Thermally - induced glass formation from hydrogel nanoparticles. Soft Matter, 2, 1067 - 1075. eScholarID:1d14174
• TaglientiA, Cellesi F, Crescenzi V, SequiP, Valentini M, Tirelli N. (2006). Investigating the Interactions of Hyaluronan Derivatives with Biomolecules. The Use of Diffusional NMR Techniques. Macromolecular Bioscience, 6, 611 - 622. eScholarID:1d13582 | DOI:10.1002/mabi.200600041
• Tirelli N. (2006). (Bio)Responsive nanoparticles. Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science, 11, 210 - 216. eScholarID:1d14175
• Napoli A, Massimiliano Valentini, Tirelli N, Muller M, Hubbell J.A. (2004). Oxidation-responsive polymeric vesicles. Nature Materials, 183 - 189. eScholarID:1d7827 | DOI:10.1038/nmat1081
• Valentini M, Vaccaro A, Rehor A, Napoli A, Hubbell J, Tirelli N. (2004). Diffusion NMR spectroscopy for the characterisation of size and interactions of colloidal matter: the case of vesicles and nanoparticles. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 6, 2142 - 2147. eScholarID:1d7794 | DOI:10.1021/ja037247r
• Hubbell JA, Bearinger J.P, Terrettaz S, MichelR, Tirelli N, Vogel H, Textor M. (2003). Chemisorbed poly(propylene sulphide)-based copolymers resist biomolecular interactions. Nature Materials, 2, 259 - 264. eScholarID:1d4368 | DOI:10.1038/nmat851
• Park Y.D, Tirelli N, Hubbell J.A. (2003). Photopolymerized Hyaluronic Acid-Based Hydrogels and InterPenetrating Networks. Biomaterials, 24, 893 - 900. eScholarID:1d4261 | DOI:10.1016/S0142-9612(02)00420-9