MSc Elena Aprea

Elena completed her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Università Politecnica delle Marche (Ancona, Italy) in July 2020. She earned a master’s degree in Bionics Engineering in April 2023 from Università di Pisa and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Pisa, Italy). During her master, she completed an internship at the Institut de la Vision (Paris, France) focusing on the topic of behavioral neuroscience and how age affects decision-making (July - October 2021). From November 2021 to April 2022, she carried out a Lab Training at The Biorobotics Institute (Pontedera, Italy) in the Bioelectronics and Bioengineering Area, to develop a preliminary neural interface for peripheral nerve stimulation. Elena then worked for six months (September 2022 – February 2023) as a Pre-Doctoral Fellow in John Rogers’ research group at Northwestern University (USA); she designed and microfabricated a fully bioresorbable optical filter to be embedded in a cardiac pacemaker as a research topic for her master’s thesis.

She joined the ECTM group of TU Delft in June 2023 to work in the field of biodegradable technologies as cutting-edge tools for biomedical applications. As part of the NOCI consortium, she aims to exploit biodegradable materials and innovative designs for perfused brain organoids in an Organ-on-Chip platform, with a special collaboration with LUMC and EMC. In parallel, she will develop a miniaturized and fully biodegradable neural interface for peripheral nerve repair, deepening the knowledge of biodegradable materials employment and concepts of remote actuation. With her multidisciplinary background, microfabrication knowledge and extensive interest in human brain and nervous system, she aims to work in the group with the purpose of channelling her enthusiasm into the realization of these pioneering technologies.

Last updated: 24 Nov 2023