Simone Vesentini, PhD, Associate Professor

Simone Vesentini has obtained , cum laude, the PhD degree in Bioengineering in 2004 on the molecular modeling of tendon structural proteins such as collagen and proteoglycans. In 2005 he received the award “Gruppo Nazionale di Bioingegneria, Patron” for the best PhD’s thesis in Biomedical Engineering. He worked as research fellow at the Computational Biomechanics Laboratory and he was involved in one STREP European Project for the MD modeling of bioartificial membranes. Since June 2008 he is assistant professor at the Bioengineering Department of the Politecnico di Milano. His research interests include soft tissue modeling and biomolecular modeling, concerning the latter he is working on the structure-function relationship in extracellular matrix molecules in normal and pathological conditions. In this regard he is Principal Investigator I of a project funded by the Politecnico di Milano and concerning material science since March 2012 he is Principal Investigator of a Fondazione Cariplo Project for the synthesis of a new proteoglycan substituent to be used in cartilage tissue engineering . He is author of about 50 scientific publications in the field of nanobiomechanic and molecular modeling, including more than 20 peer reviewed manuscripts on international journals.

Rony Aad, MSc, PhD Candidate

Rony Aad was born in Lebanon in 1998. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and his Teaching Diploma from the American University of Beirut in 2020. In 2023, he obtained his Master’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Milan, with cum laude. His master thesis focused on the use of calcium chloride to enhance the efficacy of polyamidoamines as flame retardants for cotton. Part of his thesis was carried out in Central Lille Institute in France, focusing on the fast thermogravimetric analysis of cotton flame-retardants. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Politecnico di Milano, in the department of bioengineering. His work focuses on the functionalization of silk sericin for various industrial applications, under the supervision of Prof. Simone Vesentini.

Ivana Dragojlov, MSc, PhD Candidate

Ivana Dragojlov, born in 1995, completed her Bachelor studies at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, earning a degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2018. Her thesis focused on modeling and simulation of signal propagation along neurons as electrical transmission lines. She pursued her master’s degree at Politecnico di Milano, graduating in 2021 with a thesis titled “Molecular Dynamics Study of Etoricoxib Encapsulation within α-, β-, and γ-Cyclodextrins,” under the supervision of Professor Simone Vesentini. Ivana continues her academic journey at Politecnico di Milano as a doctoral candidate, researching the optimization and characterization of electrospun-silk sericin based biopolymer films for cosmetic applications.