Meet the team
Research Staff
CLARA GARCÍA ASTRAIN
Dr. Clara García-Astrain holds a BSc in Chemistry (2009) from the University of Navarra and an MSc in Renewable Materials Engineering (2012) from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She completed her PhD at the Engineering School of Gipuzkoa (UPV/EHU), including a research stay at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT, Germany), earning her doctorate in 2015. Her doctoral research focused on developing click-crosslinked hydrogels and nanocomposites for biomedical applications. Following her PhD, she continued as a postdoctoral researcher at UPV/EHU and and completed a short stay at the Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP-CSIC). In 2016, she joined the Institute of Chemistry and Processes for Energy, Environment, and Health (ICPEES) at the University of Strasbourg (France), where she worked with Prof. Luc Avérous on the valorization of biopolymers for designing innovative materials. She later returned to the Basque Country to collaborate with Prof. Senentxu Lanceros at BCMaterials, focusing on smart materials for biomedical applications. In 2018, Dr. García-Astrain joined CICbiomaGUNE as a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellow, where she worked in the lab of Prof. Luis M. Liz-Marzán on the design of polymer nanocomposites for creating scaffolds for 3D sensing and imaging applications. In 2024, she was appointed Ikerbasque Fellow at POLYMAT, where she continues to lead pioneering research in polymer-based materials.
Post Docs
FRANCESCA PERIN
Francesca Perin holds a bachelor in Industrial Engineering (2016) and a Ms in Materials and Production Engineering (2019), both from the University of Trento. She then joined a double degree PhD program under the co-tutelle of Prof. Antonella Motta and Devid Maniglio from BioTech (University of Trento) and Dr Carlos Mota and Prof Lorenzo Moroni from MERLN (Maastricht University). Her thesis focused on the development of versatile bioinks for bioprinting, adaptable to different biofabrication techniques and applications. During her work at Maastricht University she was a member of the BIRDIE project, aimed at creating more clinically relevant kidney in vitro models. After defending her PhD (2024) she joined Polymat as a postdoctoral researcher. Here she keeps carrying on her research on bioink development and bioprinting optimization, aiming at in vitro modeling of gastric infection in the FunPolySens group, under the guidance of Dr Clara Garcia-Astrain
PhD Students
LARA TRONCOSO AFONSO
(CICbiomaGUNE)
Lara Troncoso-Afonso received her B.Sc in Chemistry in 2021 and her M.Sc. in Chemistry at the interface with Biology and Materials Science in 2023, both from the University of Santiago de Compostela. In 2023 she obtained a ‘’FPU’’ fellowship from the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain, to pursue her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Luis M. Liz-Marzán and Dra. Clara García-Astrain. Her current research is focused on the development of natural-polymer based bioinks for the 3D printing of breast cancer models and simultaneous detection of cancer-related biomarkers.
PhD Students
ANA MARÍA MUÑOZ MATEO
Ana María obtained her BSc in Chemistry in 2022 and her MSc in Chemistry and Polymers in 2023, both from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). From January to August 2024, she worked as a labortaory technician in a wáter treatment control company. In September 2024, she started her PhD tesis at POLYMAT under the supervisión of Dr. Clara García Astrain. Her current research is focused on the development of functional polymers for the detection of bacteria in 3D models of stomach infection.
Undergraduate Students
NAHIKARI LOIARTE
Undergraduate Students
AMAIA GARCIA