Alessandro Sannino received his master degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Naples ‘Federico II’ and his PhD in Materials Engineering at the University of Naples ‘Federico II’ and the University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
He has been assistant Professor at the University of Lecce, Faculty of Engineering, since 1999-2000 and his didactic activity comprises courses on ‘Polymers Science and Technology’ and ‘Non Metallic Materials’.
In the first part of his activity, Alessandro Sannino focused on the complex phenomenon of coupling the thermodynamic of absorption in macromolecular hydrogels with their physical-chemical parameters.
He developed a novel technique for the design of a connected microporosity in hydrogels based on the phase inversion in a non solvent for the polymer. He also studied the evaluation of the degree of crosslinking of macromolecular gels and the effect of spacers insertion between the crosslinks of a macromolecular gel. Results were internationally patented.
He then transferred his experience developed in the field of gel industrial applications to the biomaterials field. In particular, two issues were studied: a project for the design of a body water elimination system and another for the design of microporous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.
In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, he is currently working in the field of tissue regeneration by the use of collagen/glicosaminoglycans-based scaffolds.
He has published more than 40 works, 6 international patents and 8 national patents, mainly related to the field of the design and characterization of macromolecular gel-type networks for biomedical applications.