Welcome to my website !
I am a researcher working at the interface of mechanical and biomedical engineering, with a specific focus on the multiscale mechanisms controlling the emergent mechanics of soft biomaterials. I am also interested in distilling corresponding design principles that may be harnessed to develop bioinspired devices and structures. My work combines experimental and computational tools, which I enjoy developing and tailoring to specific applications.
I am currently a Lecturer/Assistant Professor at Queen Mary University of London, where I am building a team working on the multiscale biomechanics of soft fibrous materials. I am currently looking for motivated founding members with a background in mechanical or biomedical engineering at all academic levels.
Previously, I have been Project Leader for a Marie-Curie match-up grant and Research Director for an ERC-Consolidator grant at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, working at the interface between Prof. M. Arroyo's and Prof. X. Trepat's groups. I hold Mechanical Engineering degrees from ETH Zurich (Prof. E. Mazza's group) and Bologna University, including stays at Purdue University (Prof. A. Buganza-Tepole's group) and at UW-Madison (Prof. R. Vanderby's and Prof. R. Lakes' biomechanics group).
As part of my career trajectory, I have also acquired significant industry-relevant experience, both through interdisciplinary collaborations and by working for a leading medical device manufacturer.
Professional experience
- 🇬🇧 2024-now: Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, Queen Mary University of London, UK
- 🇪🇸 2022-now: Project Responsible for MSCA-IF Match-Up Grant, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, Spain
- 🇪🇸 2020-2022: Research Director, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, Spain
- 🇨🇭 2019-2020: Senior Research Engineer Biomechanics, Zimmer Biomet, Switzerland
- 🇺🇸 2018: Visiting Scholar, Purdue University, USA
- 🇨🇭 2014-2019: Research Assistant, Institute for Mechanical Systems, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- 🇺🇸 2013: Visiting Exchange Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
- 🇮🇹 2010: Mechanical Design Intern, Universal Pack s.r.l., Italy
Education
- 🇨🇭 Doctor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, ETH Zurich (Switzerland), 2014-2019
- 🇮🇹 Laurea Magistrale in Mechanical Engineering, University of Bologna (Italy), 2011-2014
- 🇺🇸 Visiting Exchange Student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA), 2012-2013
- 🇮🇹 Laurea Degree in Mechanical Engineering, University of Bologna (Italy), 2008-2011
- 🇮🇹 Collegio Superiore Honor's Program, University of Bologna (Italy), 2008-2014
Mission & Vision
My research aims to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the multiscale mechanics-driven pathways regulating the emergent function and adaptation characteristics (e.g. growth and remodeling) of soft biological tissues and resident cells. I am particularly interested in connective tissue wound healing and epithelial mechanics, both of which provide formidable model systems to study healthy/aberrant regulation processes and unique sources of inspiration for biomimetic material design.
Ultimately, I wish to impact society by engineering a novel, bioinspired class of materials leveraging thorough understanding of tissue regulation processes to impart selected physical and biological cues. To this end, I aim to bridge the knowledge and technological gap between soft tissue regulation and biomaterial design through rational engineering approaches, beside contributing to train the next generation of (bio-)engineers that will make such innovations a concrete reality.
Research projects
Cutaneous wound healing
Soft tissue biomechanics
Characterization of soft materials
Funding Sources
Industry experience
We have broad experience with industry-relevant projects and tasks, having directly worked for a leading medical device manufacturer, as well as developed methods to characterize biomedical structures and collaborated with a major cosmetic company. Do not hesitate to reach out if you think that our expertise could be relevant to your business!
Characterization of biomedical structures
Relevant publications
Skin biomechanics in cosmetics
Relevant publications
Journal publications
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Theory of active self-organization of dense nematic structures in actin gels
Mirza W, De Corato M, Pensalfini M, Vilanova G, Torres-Sánchez A, Arroyo M
eLife 13: RP93097, 2024 -
Nonaffine mechanics of entangled networks inspired by intermediate filaments
Pensalfini M, Golde T, Trepat X, Arroyo M
Phys Rev Lett 131(5): 058101, 2023 Editor's Suggestion
News coverage: Physics: Knotted networks form cellular safety nets -
Mechano-biological and bio-mechanical pathways in cutaneous wound healing
Pensalfini M and Buganza-Tepole A
PLoS Comput Biol 19(3): e1010902, 2023 -
How cosmetic tightening products modulate the biomechanics and morphology of human skin
Pensalfini M et al.
Acta Biomater 115: 299-316, 2020 -
Activin-mediated alterations of the fibroblast transcriptome and matrisome control the biomechanical properties of skin wounds
Wietecha M*, Pensalfini M*, Cangkrama M, Müller B, Jin J, Brinckmann J, Mazza E, Werner S
* Equal contribution Nat Commun 11(1): 2604, 2020 Editor's Highlight
News coverage: ETH News News-Medical.net Medical Xpress -
On the compressibility and poroelasticity of human and murine skin
Wahlsten A*, Pensalfini M*, Stracuzzi A, Restivo G, Hopf R, Mazza E
* Equal contribution Biomech Model Mechanobiol 18: 1079-1093, 2019 -
Tear resistance of soft collagenous tissues
Bircher K, Zündel M, Pensalfini M, Ehret AE, Mazza E
Nat Commun 10(1): 792, 2019 -
Development of a novel human cell-derived tissue-engineered heart valve for transcatheter aortic valve replacement: an in vitro and in vivo feasibility study
Lintas V, Fioretta ES, Motta SE, Dijkman PE, Pensalfini M, Mazza E, Caliskan E, Rodriguez H, Lipski M, Sauer M, Cesarovic N, Hoerstrup SP, Emmert MY
J Cardiovasc Transl 11(6): 470-482, 2018 -
A novel ultra-light suction device for mechanical characterization of skin
Müller B*, Elrod J*, Pensalfini M, Hopf R, Distler O, Schiestl C, Mazza E
* Equal contribution PLoS ONE 13(8): e0201440, 2018 -
Location-specific mechanical response and morphology of facial soft tissues
Pensalfini M et al.
J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 78: 108-115, 2018 -
The mechanical fingerprint of murine excisional wounds
Pensalfini M, Haertel E, Hopf R, Wietecha M, Werner S, Mazza E
Acta Biomater 65: 226-236, 2018 -
The suture retention strength, revisited and revised
Pensalfini M, Meneghello S, Lintas V, Bircher K, Ehret AE, Mazza E
J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 77: 711-717, 2018 -
Factors affecting the mechanical behavior of collagen hydrogels for skin tissue engineering
Pensalfini M, Ehret AE, Stüdeli S, Marino D, Kaech A, Reichmann E, Mazza E
J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 69: 85-97, 2017 -
Guidelines for standardization of bioprinting: a systematic study of process parameters and their effect on bioprinted structures
Kesti M, Fisch P, Pensalfini M, Mazza E, Zenobi-Wong M
BioNanoMaterials 17(3-4): 193-204, 2016 -
Challenging the in-vivo assessment of biomechanical properties of the uterine cervix: A critical analysis of ultrasound based quasi-static procedures
Maurer MM*, Badir S*, Pensalfini M, Bajka M, Abitabile P, Zimmermann R, Mazza E
* Equal contribution J Biomech 48(9): 1541-1548, 2015 -
Evaluation of global load sharing and shear-lag models to describe mechanical behavior in partially lacerated tendons
Pensalfini M, Duenwald-Kuehl S, Kondratko-Mittnacht J, Lakes R, Vanderby R
J Biomech Eng 136(9): 091006, 2014 -
Entanglement metric and percolation threshold in cellularized tangles under stretch
Pensalfini M and Arroyo M
B Am Phys Soc F15.00009, 2023 -
Fibrosis across the scales: Activin-mediated changes in the fibroblast transcriptome and wound matrisome control the biomechanical properties of skin wounds
Wietecha M, Pensalfini M, Brinckmann J, Mazza E, Werner S
Wound Repair Regen 28(2): A1-A21, 2020 -
Toward an ultra-sensitive aspiration device for objective scar assessment
Elrod J, Müller B, Pensalfini M, Mazza E, Schiestl C
Wound Repair Regen 26(2): A17-A35, 2018
2024
2023
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Peer-reviewed conference proceedings
2023
2020
2018
Peer-reviewed theses
2019
Multiscale Investigations of Skin Biomechanics and Mechanobiology
Pensalfini M
Diss. ETH No. 25837
Software
- Customization of the C++ cytoskeleton simulation suite Cytosim
- Longitudinally-extensible cytoskeletal filaments (theory & implementation)
- Monolayer-like confinement of cytoskeletal filaments (theory & implementation)
- Externally-controlled nematic ordering (theory & implementation)
- Customization of the C++ FE software for wound healing simulations started by A. Buganza-Tepole
- Circular wound with hard-coded mechanical parameters and stretch-driven mechanobiology (Bitbucket)
- Circular wound with microstructure-based mechanics and stretch-driven mechanobiology (Bitbucket: no collagen crosslinking, accounting for collagen crosslinking)
- Circular wound with microstructure-based mechanics and stiffness-driven mechanobiology (Bitbucket)
- Multilevel Bayesian approach for calibration of skin constitutive mechanical parameters using PyMC3 (Bitbucket)
- Automated classification of biomechanical data in sign language movements using python
Teaching and mentoring experience
- Teaching assistant at ETH Zurich
- 2015-16: Main teaching assistant for Continuum Mechanics 1 (~100 students)
- 2014-18: 1 of 10 teaching assistants for Mechanics 1: Kinematics and Statics (600-800 students)
- Co-organizer of lab sessions for ETH undergraduates (topics: vibrations, wave propagation, rheoviscometry)
- Supervisor of experimental and computational work by 11 junior collaborators at UPC and ETH Zurich
- Speaker in 2 engineering seminars for non-technical audience at University of Bologna's Collegio Superiore
Joining
We are always looking for motivated researchers at all academic levels. If you are interested in our research and have a background in mechanical/biomedical engineering or soft tissue biophysics, do get in touch and we will try to find ways to support you!
Postdoctoral Researchers
While we do not currently have any opening, we are committed to supporting strong candidates to craft high-quality applications for external funding based on our experience with EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Swiss Postdoc.Mobility schemes. Typically, you will be expected to propose a potential project
PhD Students
We are currently looking for a PhD candidate with flexibility to work on multiscale experimental or computational aspects of soft tissue biomechanics and mechanobiology!
QMUL Undergraduate Students
If you are studying at QMUL and would like to contribute to our group activities as part of your MSc, MEng, or Undergraduate Research Project, feel free to reach out with a CV and a list of potential shared interests.