Edificio I+D+i

C/ Mariano Esquillor, 50018, Zaragoza

Télefono. 976 76 10 00; ext: 845553

Email. silviamh83@unizar.es

Web.

CSIC Tenured Scientist at the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragón (INMA) and member of the Liquid Crystals and Polymers research group.

I obtained my PhD in Chemistry from the University of Zaragoza in February 2011. I then joined the University of Cambridge as a Research Associate in Biophysics in the group of Prof. Ulrich Keyser. In February 2014, I began my independent research career as a Herchel Smith Fellow at Cambridge, focusing on DNA nanotechnology. In June 2017, I moved to the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragón (INMA) as a permanent ARAID researcher, and since December 2024, I have been CSIC Tenured Scientist at INMA.

Our current research spans nucleic acid nanotechnology, polymeric and self-assembled materials, and biomedical applications. We develop customized DNA- and RNA-based nanostructures by leveraging the versatility of nucleic acid nanotechnology. These materials are applied as: (i) nanocarriers for gene therapy and drug delivery targeting cardiac disease and cancer; (ii) responsive architectures combined with liposomes as synthetic cells; (iii) functional cargoes integrated into dynamic polymeric hydrogels for sustained release; and (iv) precise molecular templates for structural biology. We are particularly interested in developing new chemical strategies to enhance the performance of DNA and RNA-based nanostructures in biological environments.

Our team includes chemists and biotechnologists, and we collaborate with national and international partners to foster interdisciplinarity and expand our capabilities.