Cristina Fornaguera, PhD

OUR RESEARCH FOCUS

Nanomedicines engineering to control the interactions with physiological barriers

  • Polymeric nanoparticles

    Synthesis of proprietary polymers as biomaterials to formulate polymeric nanoparticles for the controlled delivery of drugs, biologicals and actives with smart delivery properties.

  • Extracellular Vesicles

    Engineering and loading of extracellular vesicles to further use them as natural carrier systems for controlled drug delivery.

  • Crossing biological barriers

    Formulate nano and microscarriers able to selectively interact with mucoses, epithelial and immune resident cells, to achieve the non-invasive delivery (i.e. inhaled administration or blood-brain barrier crossing).

  • mRNA vaccines

    Design of prophylactic or therapeutic mRNA vaccines for pharmaceutical and veterinary uses.

  • Cancer combined immunotherapies

    Use of the engineered nanotools, encapsulating different therapeutic nucleic acids, to become the next generation of cancer nanomedicines.

  • Cosmetic applications

    Use of the technology generated for the nano and micro-encapsulation of active ingredients of interest for cosmetic industries.

TEAM

Cristina Fornaguera, PhD

Team Leader

Marta Guerra Rebollo, PhD

Senior Researcher

Patricia González, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Jennifer Fernandez, PhD

Postdoctoral researcher

Vladimir Stamenovic

Postdoctoral researcher

Mònica Guarro Ferrer, MSc

PhD Candidate

Carles Bofill, MSc

PhD Candidate

Nil Gonzalez Rios, MSc

PhD Candidate

Yvette Rabadà Soler, MSc

PhD Candidate

Maria José Sanchez Gomez, MSc

PhD Candidate

Maria Gil-Vives, BSc

PhD candidate

Ana Moyo, BSc

MSc student

Maria Navalón Lopez, MSc

PhD Candidate

Maria Stampa Lopez-Pinto, MSc

PhD Candidate

Jordi Guixeras, MSc

PhD Candidate

Mar Losada, MSc

PhD candidate

Toni Torres, BSc

PhD candidate

Elena Haro, MSc

PhD candidate

Anna Tarrats, MSc

PhD candidate

Pau Castells

MSc Student

Alessia Remondino, BSc

MSc student

Dalia Belhadj

MSc student

Ida Pagnotta

MSc student

Andrea Díaz

Lab technician

Raquel Vaya

Lab technician

Caroline Porskamp

BSc student

Joanna Baulés

BSc student

Rubén Garcia

BSc student

Delia Lupica

Visiting MSc

Jonas Reckmann

Visiting MSc

Sara Giancaterino

Visiting PhD candidate

Paula Niella

BSc student

FORMER MEMBERS

Noraini Ahmad

Visiting professor


José Rodrigo Magaña Rodriguez, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher


Fleur Van Vooler

MSc candidate


Clara Presciutti

MSc candidate


Coral Garcia-Fernandez, MSc

PhD Candidate


Marc Sabartés, BSc

MSc candidate


Odile Fernández, BSc

MSc candidate


Ïa Casanovas, BSc

MSc candidate


Daniel Serrano, BSc

MSc candidate


Laia Martí, BSc

MSc candidate


Alex Gil, BSc

MSc candidate


Giacomo Sansone

Visiting MSc candidate


Alex Vicente

Lab Technician


Pau Jorba

Lab Technician


Leire Franquesa

Undergraduate Student


Mar Corgos

Undergraduate Student


Natalia Rodríguez

Undergraduate Student


Laia Gorrindo

Undergraduate Student


Lara Font

Undergraduate Student


Panagiota Papaioannou

Visiting MSc


Anna Fotopolou

Visiting MSc


Laura Olmo

Lab Technician


Gae Azzara

Visiting MSc


Carla Giacobino

Visiting MSc


Marta Jové

MSc student


HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS

Articles in scientific journals

  • Aurora Dols-Perez, Cristina Fornaguera, Natalia Feiner-Gracia, Santiago Grijalvo, Conxita Solans, Gabriel Gomila, Effect of surface functionalization and loading on the mechanical properties of soft polymeric nanoparticles prepared by nano-emulsion templating, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2022.113019

  • Fornaguera C., Torres-Coll A., Olmo L., Garcia-Fernandez C., Guerra-Rebollo M., Borrós S., Engineering oncogene-targeted anisamide-functionalized pBAE nanoparticles as efficient lung cancer antisense therapies, RSC Advances, 2023. DOI: 10.1039/D3RA05830A

  • González-Ríos N., Artigues M., Guerra-Rebollo M., Planas A., Borrós S., Faijes M., Fornaguera C., Novel α-mannose-functionalized poly(β-amino ester) nanoparticles as mRNA vaccines with increased antigen presenting cell selectivity in the spleen, Journal of Material Chemistry B, 2023. DOI: 10.1039/D3TB00607G

  • Cosialls R., Fernández O., Simó C., Pulagam K.R., Guerra-Rebollo M., Llop J., Fornaguera C., Cuenca A.B., Borrós S., Ammonium trifluoroborate-modified poly(β-aminoesters): A case study for PET-guided in vivo pharmacokinetic studies of a non-viral gene delivery system, Journal of Controlled Release, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.05.017

  • Bofill-Bonet C, Gil-Vives M, Artigues M., Hernández M., Borrós S., Fornaguera C., Fine-tuning formulation and biological interaction of doxorubicin-loaded polymeric nanoparticles via electrolyte concentration modulation, Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2023.122986

  • Navalón-López M., Dols-Perez A, Grijalvo S, Fornaguera C, Borrós S, Unravelling the role of individual components in pBAE/polynucleotide polyplexes in the synthesis of tailored carriers for specific applications: on the road to rational formulations, Nanoscale Advances 2023. DOI: 10.1039/d2na00800a

  • Riera R., Tauler J., Feiner-Gracia N., Borrós S., Fornaguera C., Albertazzi L., Complex pBAE Nanoparticle Cell Trafficking: Tracking Both Position and Composition Using Super Resolution Microscopy, ChemMedChem, 2022. DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202100633

  • Guarro M., Suñer F., Lecina M., Borrós S., Fornaguera C., Efficient extracellular vesicles freeze-dry method for direct formulations preparation and use, Colloids Surf B: Biointerfaces. 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2022.112745

  • Giacobino C., Canta M., Fornaguera C., Borrós S., Cauda V., Extracellular vesicles and their current role in cancer immunotherapy, Cancers, 2021. DOI: 10.3390/cancers13092280

  • García-Fernández C., Saz A., Fornaguera C., Borrós S., Cancer immunotherapies revisited: state of the art of conventional treatments and next-generation nanomedicines, Cancer Gene Therapy, 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41417-021-00333-5

  • Fornaguera C., Díaz-Caballero M., García-Fernandez C., Olmo L., Stampa-López Pinto M., Navalón-López M., Guerra-Rebollo M., Borrós S., Synthesis and Characterization of mRNA-Loaded Poly(Beta Aminoesters) Nanoparticles for Vaccination Purposes. JoVe, 2021. DOI: 10.3791/62889.

  • Guerra-Rebollo M., Stampa Lopez-Pinto M., Fornaguera C.*, Borrós S., Electrostatic coating of viral particles for gene delivery applications in muscular dystrophies: influence of size on stability and antibody protection. Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases, 2021. DOI: 10.3233/JND-210662.

  • Parés M., Fornaguera C., Vila-Julià F., Oh S., H Y Fan S., Tam Y.K., Comes N., Vidal F., Martí R., Borrós S., Barquinero J., Preclinical Assessment of a Gene-Editing Approach in a Mouse Model of Mitochondrial Neurogastrointestinal Encephalomyopathy. Human Gene Therapy, 2021. DOI: 10.1089/hum.2021.152

  • Arista-Romero M., Cascante A., Fornaguera C., Borrós S., Role of surviving in bladder cancer: issues to be overcome when designing an efficient dual nano-therapy. Pharmaceutics. 2021.

  • García-Fernández C., Fornaguera C., Borrós S., Nanomedicine in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: From Conventional Treatments to Immunotherapy. Cancers, 2020. DOI: 10.3390/cancers12061609.

  • Brugada-Vilà P., Cascante A., Lázaro M.A., Castells-Sala C., Fornaguera C., Rovira-Rigau M., Albertazzi L., Borrós S., Fillat C., Oligopeptide-modified poly(beta-amino ester)s-coated adnuparme1a: boosting the efficacy of intravenously administered therapeutic adenoviruses. Theranostics, 2020. DOI:10.7150/thno.40902.

  • Salinas Y., Kneidinger M., Fornaguera C., Borrós S., Bruggemann O., Teasdale I., Dual stimuli-responsive polyphosphazene-based molecular gates for controlled drug delivery in lung cancer cells. RSC Advances, 2020. DOI: 10.1039/D0RA03210G

  • Balcells L., Fornaguera C., Brugada-Vila? P., Guerra-Rebollo M., Meca-Corte?s O., Martínez G., Rubio N., Blanco J., Santamaría J., Cascante C., Borro?s S., SPIONS’ enhancer effect on cell transfection: an unexpected advantage for an improved gene delivery system. ACS Omega, 2019. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.8b02905.

  • Fornaguera C., Castells-Sala C., Lázaro M.A., Cascante A., Borrós S., Development of an optimized freeze-drying protocol for OM-pBAE polyplexes. International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.118612

  • Fornaguera C., Guerra-Rebollo M., Lázaro M.A., Cascante A., Rubio N., Blanco J., Borrós S., In vivo retargeting of poly (beta aminoester) (OM-pBAE) nanoparticles is influenced by protein corona. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2019. DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201800335

  • Riera R., Feiner-Gracia N., Fornaguera C., Cascante A., Borrós S., Albertazzi L., Tracking complexation state of pBAE polyplexes in cells with super resolution microscopy. Nanoscale, 2019. DOI: 10.1039/C9NR02858G

  • Fornaguera C., Guerra-Rebollo M., Lázaro M.A., Castells-Sala C., Ramos V., Cascante A., Rubió N., Blanco J., Borrós S., mRNA delivery system for targeting antigen-presenting cells in vivo. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2018. DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201800335

  • Feiner-Gracia N., Dols-Pérez A., Royo M., Solans C., García-Celma M.J., Fornaguera C., Cell penetrating peptide grafting of PLGA nanoparticles to enhance cell uptake. European Polymer Journal, 2018. DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2018.09.026.

  • Fornaguera C., Lázaro M.A., Brugada P., Porcar I., Morera I., Guerra-Rebollo M., Garrido C., Rubió N., Blanco J., Cascante A., Borrós S., Application of an assay cascade methodology for a deep preclinical characterization of polymeric nanoparticles as a treatment for gliomas. Drug Delivery, 2018. DOI: 10.1080/10717544.2018.1436099

  • Fornaguera C., Solans C., Methods for the in vitro characterization of nanomedicines – biological components interaction. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 2017. DOI: 10.3390/jpm7010002

  • Fornaguera C., García-Celma M.J., Personalized nanomedicine: a revolution at the nanoscale. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 2017. DOI: 10.3390/jpm7040012

  • Fornaguera C., Grijalvo S., Galán M., Fuentes-Paniagua E., de la Mata F.J., Gómez R., Eritja R., Calderó G., Solans C., Novel non-viral gene delivery systems composed of carbosilane dendron functionalized nanoparticles prepared from nano-emulsions as non-viral carriers for antisense oligonucleotides. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2014.11.031

  • Fornaguera C., Calderó G., Mitjans M., Vinardell P., Solans C., Vauthier C., Interaction of PLGA nanoparticles with blood components: protein adsorption, coagulation, activation of the complement system and hemolysis studies. Nanoscale, 2015. DOI: 10.1039/C5NR00733J

  • Fornaguera C., Feiner-Gracia N., Calderó G., Garcia-Celma M.J., Solans C., Galantamine-loaded PLGA nanoparticles, from nano-emulsion templating, as novel advanced drug delivery systems to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Nanoscale, 2015. DOI: 10.1039/C5NR03474D

  • Fornaguera C., Dols-Pérez A., Calderó G., García-Celma M.J., Camarasa J., Solans C., PLGA nanoparticles prepared by nano-emulsion templating using low-energy methods as efficient nanocarriers through the blood-brain barrier. Journal of Controlled release, 2015. DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2015.06.002.

IN THE NEWS

Our group has been funded to develop a project for “La Marató 2021” devoted to depressive syndrome treatment

C. Fornaguera highlighted as one of the Women in Science.

Our group promotes cancer research at IQS.

IQS has been awarded the COST Innovator Grant (CIG) 2022 for the proposal PANDORA, from NIT

Our group participates in the Oligofastx project

Some of our postdoc and PhD students participate in the IQS Startup Challenge

Our research contributes in the Day of Materials 2021, by presenting in home designed microneedles for muscle regeneration applications.

Interview: Cancer treatments research: contribution to the development of vaccines against infectious diseases-

Our Research featured in JoVe.

Our CoviNanoVax project arrives to preclinical stages.

Our RetiPatch Project highlighted in the news.

Participating in #Conocelas, from ASEICA program of Science Awareness Activities to promote girls engagement with STEM professions.

Celebrating the Women in Science Day with our group

Among all proposals, only three projects for the development of the Spanish Covid-19 vaccine funded by ISCIII, and one is ours!

IMAGE GALLERY

  • Nanoscale Advances 2023

  • ChemMedChem

  • Cells grown on microcarriers

  • Mammal EVs

  • Schematic representation of NPs

  • GBM reduction of size

  • In vitro cell transfection

  • NPs accumulation in spleen – vaccination confirmation

  • NTA size measurement

  • Studies of exocytosis

  • Studies of autophagy

JOIN US

We are a young team looking for highly motivated outstanding researchers of the multidisciplinary disciplines that involves our research, focused on nanomedicine, immunotherapies and biomaterials.

We encourage applications for postdoc, PhD and MSc thesis. If you are interested, you can directly contact us: cristina.fornaguera@iqs.url.edu

(c) 2025 Dra. Cristina Fornaguera Puigvert, PhD

Nanomedicine | Biomaterials | Immunotherapy | Smart Therapies | mRNA Vaccines | Controlled Delivery Systems | Crossing biological barriers | Diversified Products