PRR Project

Summary

iBB is dedicated to tackling the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Among these, the need to improve the sustainability of resource usage, and to develop affordable therapies, vaccines, drugs, biofuels, and other value added-bioproducts are two challenges that merit our attention. The development of sustainable bioprocess engineering approaches plays a crucial role in facing these challenges, and have a large potential to contribute to reduce environmental footprints, increase productivity, improve (bio)product quality and drastically reduce manufacturing costs.The scientific area of Bioprocess Engineering and the Bioprocess Engineering Research Group (BERG) at iBB explores biology-based engineering solutions to optimize and streamline the manufacturing of biological molecules and formulations thereof, with potential uses in Health and Bioeconomy applications. The goal is to improve productivity, scalability, affordability, and access to impactful bioproducts. The group comprises a multidisciplinary team with diverse scientific expertise in molecular and cell biology, microbiology, bioprocess engineering, nanomedicine and pharmaceutical technology.Key areas of Bioprocess Engineering include fermentation, bioreactor design, downstream processing, bioreactor design, and process optimization, integration and intensification. These areas are moving towards the use of advanced technologies and digitalization techniques to ensure that bioprocessing is efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. Further, there is a transition from traditional batch manufacturing to continuous manufacturing, with the anticipation that bioproducts will be produced in a genuinely continuous mode soon.In the specific field of downstream processing, key challenges are:Sustainability: there is a need to develop more efficient and sustainable purification processes, to improve yield and quality of products, reduce waste, and minimize energy and water use. This requires optimization of existing processes and operations such as chromatography and tangential flow filtration, the use of continuous manufacturing and integrated processes, and the development of new downstream processing technologies.Modeling and Optimization: scaling up downstream processing operations requires mathematical models for predicting and optimizing the behavior of unit operations. This may involve using microfluidic platforms for High-Throughput Process Screening (HTPS), digital twin technologies for real-time simulation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, for modeling and optimizing complex data sets.Process Control and Monitoring: maintaining consistency and quality in downstream processing operations necessitates advanced sensors, control systems, Digital Twins for real-time monitoring and control, Process Analytical Technologies (PAT), and Quality by Design (QBD).The Bioprocess Engineering area considers it essential to hire a scientifically knowledgeable, technically skilled, and innovative engineer/scientist in downstream processing that can tackle these emerging research topics.  The new researcher is expected to emphasize Process Design & Development of Manufacturing Processes with a focus on downstream processing for the isolation and purification of new biopharmaceutical modalities and biomolecules in general. In particular, we are looking for a researcher that will address technological challenges associated with the manufacturing and downstream processing of last generation biomolecules such as antibodies, nucleic acids (mRNA, plasmids, minicircles), bacteriophages and bio-nanostructures (protein nanocages, DNA origami nanostructures). Additionally, the candidate is encouraged to explore topics such as continuous and integrated downstream processing, digitalization and modeling of unit operations, use of miniaturized platforms and microfluidic devices for process optimization, as well as to contribute to the development of biosensing tools for effective monitoring of bioseparations. Such an interdisciplinary approach will contribute to the development of robust and adaptive downstream processing methodologies, further advancing the frontiers of biomanufacturing.The ideal candidate is expected to establish a nationally and internationally recognized independent research program (evidenced by publications and capture of external funding) that increases the impact and visibility of iBB and IST-ID in the area. She/he should lead/launch/strengthen the downstream processing area will complementing existing research lines at iBB.