Michele obtained his master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Cagliari (2013). He joined the PhD program in Life, Environmental and Drug Sciences of the same institution, where he worked on the development of liposomal nanocarriers encapsulating small interfering RNA (siRNA) against neurodegeneration and brain cancer. As a part of his training, Dr Schlich has been a visiting researcher at the School of Pharmacy of the University College Cork (2015-2016), and a visiting student at the Department of Organic Chemistry of the Semmelweis University, Budapest (2011-2012). He obtained the PhD in 2017, defending a thesis on Liposomes for siRNA and Small Molecule Delivery.

In 2018, he moved to the Nanotechnology for Precision Medicine group, led by Paolo Decuzzi at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT, Genoa), for a post-doc on non-viral methods of nucleic acid delivery through lipid and polymeric nanoparticles. In his second post doc at the University of Cagliari (2020-2021) his research interests moved to the nanoencapsulation of protein antigens for the non-invasive delivery of vaccines.

Since 2020, he holds an affiliated researcher position at IIT, and in January 2022 he was appointed assistant professor in pharmaceutical technology (Ricercatore di Tipo A) at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences of the University of Cagliari.

His research is focused on the use of nanotechnology to overcome the unfavorable properties of bioactive molecules, promoting their development as pharmaceutical products. His main interests are focused on:

• rational design, production methods and characterization of lipid-based nanoparticles for biologics delivery (nucleic acids, proteins, peptides)
• study of the interactions between nanoparticles, cells, and tissues
• formulation of nanocrystal suspensions to increase the dermal and transdermal bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs
• combination of novel nanomedicines with medical devices (eg. needle-free jet injectors) to improve safety and efficacy

Links & identifiers

ORCID: 0000-0002-7214-9045

Scopus: 55326009100

Twitter: @MicSchlich

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/michele-schlich/