An engineer who works alongside surgeons to create cell tissue that can be transplanted without being rejected. Ivan Martin, member of the Aspen Institute Italian “Italian leaders abroad,” is a professor of Tissue Engineering at the Department of Biomedicine of the University of Basel.
Before reaching Switzerland, and even before his time at MIT, he studied in Italy. There, he says, there is a creative potential that needs to be utilized. Moreover, he told the Aspen web site that creative is the origin of science.
An engineer working in a hospital. What are you researching and what are the applications?
There are many possible clinical applications of the research into three-dimensional cell culture. Here in Basel we have already treated five patients for the reconstructions of cartilage, after creating the infrastructures and quality control procedures. Working with surgeons is stimulating: what we engineers generally find relevant is not always so from a clinical point of view.
In addition, our research has led to a start-up, Cellec Bioteck, which develops bioreactors for cell culture, in other words devices that can stimulate controlled, automatic and standardized tissue generation. This experience is leading to the creation of an international network with teams contributing according to their specialization. We are convinced that each group’s success in the sector of regenerative medicine can and should lead to the success of the whole sector. This would open new scientific and therapeutic perspectives in a field that is still in its beginnings.
From engineering to regenerative medicine. How did your professional development lead you to the University Hospital Basel?
I studied electronic engineering, obtaining my PhD in biomedical engineering in a program that included study of the biological aspects of regenerative medicine. Later, partly to flesh out my engineering background, I spent three years in the labs of MIT in Boston, working in the area of bioreactors for engineered tissue culture. Now, I am doing research at the University Hospital Basel, where I am concentrating on the study of cell function in three-dimensional environments and the clinical application of the tissues produced.
Is it true that Italian researchers have a high level of preparation? What was your experience during your work with colleagues from other countries?
Undergraduate and PhD preparation are both excellent. I experienced that at MIT. At first, I was interfacing timidly with my colleagues. Then I discovered I was knowledgeable and even knew more than they did in some cases. More attention should be paid to interdisciplinary study in Italy of course to bring different fields together to work as a team. But any lack of interdisciplinarity is compensated by creativity and flexibility. And both make it possible to find innovative solutions.
What are the strong points of the Italian university system? How can they be developed?
I work with Italian partners on a number of European projects. There is enormous creativity in Italian universities, which are doing pioneering work in a number of fields. Creativity is essential because it is the source of science. The most difficult part however is still how to make this creativity systematic, and use it in medium- and long-term projects, in academics and industrial applications.
