Eduardo Fernandez-Megia completed a PhD in Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. F. J. Sardina at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). After a postdoctoral stay at the University of Cambridge (Prof. Steven V. Ley, 1997-99), he returned to USC as a Marie Curie Fellow and Associated Professor. In 2003, he became Ramon y Cajal Fellow and in 2008 was appointed Prof. Contratado Doctor. Since 2010 is Profesor Titular of Organic Chemistry and works at the Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS) at USC.
Fernandez-Megia lab focuses at the interface between chemical biology and polymer chemistry with emphasis on well-defined dendrimers and polymeric nanostructures for biomedical applications, drug delivery, radionanotherapy, and diagnosis (MRI, PET, SPECT). The laboratory activity includes polymer synthesis, the preparation and characterization of nanoassembles, and their in vitro/in vivo evaluation. Special interest is devoted to click & accelerated bioconjugation protocols for stimuli-responsive materials, the synthesis of dendrimers, and the multivalent functionalization of ligands and proteins to modulate the complex mechanisms governing multivalent interactions. Current international collaborations aim at (i) improving the endosomal scape of non-viral gene delivery systems, (ii) enhancing the affinity of small recognition proteins via multivalent dendrimer presentation (Affidendrons), and (iii) the development of nanotherapeutics to reduce amyloid beta burden. Other areas of interest are the development of NMR relaxation tools for the characterization of polymer dynamics, the accelerated recording of NMR spectra, and the selective suppression of individual components in the NMR spectra of complex mixtures.
