Since the Women for Africa Foundation launched Science by Women in 2014, the programme has supported more than 190 researchers from 38 African countries during their research stays at internationally renowned institutions in Spain. Over the course of eleven editions, these scientists have worked in a wide range of strategic fields, including health, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, sustainability, renewable energy, and astrophysics.
Yasmin Abo-zeid is this year's visiting scientist, joiningICMAB for a six months research stay. We welcome her, and wish her the most fruitful time here! She will be working with Imma Ratera from the Nanomol-BIO research group and Rosario Nuñez from the LMI research group.
“My motivation to join ICMAB-CSIC stems from its reputation as a pioneering institution with a strong track record in developing advanced functional materials for applications in health. Working with Dr. Imma Ratera and Dr. Rosario Nuñez offers me a unique opportunity to integrate my background in drug delivery with ICMAB’s excellence in functional materials. This collaboration will strengthen my expertise in the development of biomedical innovations through joint work on surface-modified medical devices using safe, efficient, and scalable strategies to prevent hospital-acquired infections, an urgent global health challenge affecting millions of patients each year.”
About her arrival at ICMAB, Imma and Rosario said:
"We are very pleased to welcome Dr Yasmin Abo-zeid to ICMAB and to work together on a project that aligns very well with the objectives of our Severo Ochoa Challenge 1 within the Materials for Health research line, dedicated to interface engineering for infection prevention. Her extensive expertise in pharmaceutics, nanomedicine, drug delivery, formulation and infection control is highly complementary to our research at ICMAB. Dr Imma Ratera contributes broad expertise in functional molecular materials and surface engineering, while Dr Rosario Núñez brings extensive experience in boron cluster chemistry, particularly in their functionalization for biomedical applications.
This strong combination of expertise provides an excellent multidisciplinary framework to integrate molecular design, functional materials, surface engineering and nanomedicine, with the aim of developing innovative antimicrobial surfaces for medical devices. Importantly, the collaboration brings together fundamental materials research and biomedical expertise with a clear focus on potential healthcare applications. We also hope that Yasmin’s stay at ICMAB will serve as the starting point for a fruitful and long-lasting collaboration with her and her research group."
About the project
During her stay at ICMAB-CSIC, Yasmin Abo-zeid will work on the development of new antimicrobial surfaces to prevent infections associated with medical devices. The project aims to develop these kind of surfaces for medical devices to help prevent hospital-acquired infections, a major healthcare challenge worldwide. The strategy uses boron cluster compounds with antimicrobial properties to create protective coatings that can reduce bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation. This project will explore the use of boron cluster compounds as functional coatings capable of providing antimicrobial activity to biomedical surfaces.
About Yasmin Abo-Zeid
Yasmin Abo-zeid from Egypt, is Professor of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Capital University, Cairo, Egypt. She awarded her PhD in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering from University of Nottingham, UK in 2014, followed by Newton Mosharafa postdoctoral fellowship at UCL School of Pharmacy, University College of London, UK. During this Fellowship, she expanded her collaboration with London Metropolitan University. She is a recipient of the prestigious LOREAL’s UNESCO for WOMEN in SCIENCES Fellowship (2020) and has secured more than £600,000 in national and international research funding. Yasmin has built strong scientific networks across Europe (UK, Italy, Ukraine, and Spain), Asia (China), and Africa (South Africa, Algeria, Tunisia, and Saudia Arabia) focusing on translating nanotechnology-based prototypes into market ready solutions that address pressing public health challenges.
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