Carlos F. Guimarães

Biomimetic hydrogel micro-/nanofibers for in situ soft tissue repair and regeneration To effectively harness the regenerative potential of the body and orchestrate cellular responses for in situ tissue repair, the design of biomaterials…

New Paper out! A joint review on Hydrogel Fibers with Zhou's Lab, out now in Bioactive Materials.

Hydrogel Fibers are truly versatile materials across different scales, and their applications in tissue repair and regeneration continue to grow 👇

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Very happy to share our latest 3B's publication, online now in @cp-matter.bsky.social 🥳

We took our work in microfluidic-driven biofabrication to a whole new level through 2 major advances (a short thread):

Precise multiphase hydrogel engineering of miniaturized 3D cancer architectures via computationally informed microfluidics Understanding cancer biology and therapy responses requires accurate in vitro models that reflect tumor complexity. This work presents a multiphase mi…

Feel free to access our paper here (50 days of full access): www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Together, this will help us combine the 3D physiological relevance of disease tissues, with the small and high-throughput type of systems that are so needed to uncover complex cancer-microenvironment effects in disease progression and discover future therapies!

Or use liquid-gel environments to create multicellular fiberoids - like a spheroid that is prolonged through space - with close cell-cell interactions like those happening in the cancer microenvironment, e.g., between glioblastoma and astrocytes👇

This enabled us to establish an awesome platform to fabricate miniaturized cancerous tissues with very high throughput and highly adaptable shapes.

We can create up to ~2500 spheroid pockets in 1 minute! And recapitulate tissue-like cancer solid stress by surrounding them:

2. Are we able to work with different material phases other than hydrogels, like liquids or even air, and use those to create new types of compartments within these microfiber boundaries?

Yes!

And we can use them to direct the growth of cellular assemblies.

This work was led by Ramon Rial, when he was visiting us for his PostDoc, and spun out of 2 challenges:

1. Can we predict the shape of hydrogel fibers spun through flow-focusing microchips computationally, test, experiment and optimize before stepping into the lab?

Yes!

Very happy to share our latest 3B's publication, online now in @cp-matter.bsky.social 🥳

We took our work in microfluidic-driven biofabrication to a whole new level through 2 major advances (a short thread):

Further information about the new funding instrument (substantially higher funds for up to 7 years) which had already been announced should come later in an amended version of the 2026 Work Programme.

3. Extended Eligibility Periods (Starting 2027):
• Starting Grants: Eligible immediately after the researcher's PhD defense, and within the next 10 years.
• Consolidator Grants: Between five and fifteen years after the researcher's PhD date.

2. Evaluation Process (Starting 2026):
• Part I (together with CV and Track Record) will still be the focus of the first evaluation step BUT Feasibility will no longer be assessed at Step 1. Part I should no longer include details on feasibility.

1. Revised Proposal Structure (2026):
• Part I (former Extended Synopsis) - 5-page section outlining the overall idea, current state of knowledge, research objectives (similar).
• Part II: Limited to 7 pages for Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grant. Condenses previous Part B2 and to half.

The @erc.europa.eu just announced important updates to ERC grants coming with the 2026 and 2027 Work Programmes, in both proposal form and the evaluation process!

Here are the more significant changes: (1/5)

Touch down in Chicago for the 50th Society For Biomaterials Annual Meeting! 🛬

If you're around do stop by our session on “Microfluidics and Biomaterials for Engineering 3D In Vitro Models” tomorrow at 1 PM, where I’ll also be presenting some of our latest (and unpublished 👀) work!

Touch down in Chicago for the 50th Society For Biomaterials Annual Meeting! 🛬

If you're around do stop by our session on “Microfluidics and Biomaterials for Engineering 3D In Vitro Models” tomorrow at 1 PM, where I’ll also be presenting some of our latest (and unpublished 👀) work!

Decision of Approval (Screen Shot)

New FCT Research Grant Approved!! 🥳

Very happy to receive notice of funding approval for the IC&DT research grant I proposed as Principal Investigator (my first in that capacity!)

These are the larger national research grants which are attributed on a regular basis in Portugal.

This grant will enable us to build upon an ambitious idea of leveraging a new biomaterial platform for precisely mimicking very fine mechanical characteristics of healthy and diseased tissues for next-generation in vitro models, with unique mechano-precision and long-term stability.
Looking forward!

Decision of Approval (Screen Shot)

New FCT Research Grant Approved!! 🥳

Very happy to receive notice of funding approval for the IC&DT research grant I proposed as Principal Investigator (my first in that capacity!)

These are the larger national research grants which are attributed on a regular basis in Portugal.

I am somehow for the first time ever reviewing for PNAS and their reviewer instructions include this BANGER of a line:

"The purpose of peer review is not to demonstrate proficiency in identifying flaws"

Print it in eleventy point font and hang it from the hillside. Scream it from the rooftops.

Certified banger

NOTICE FOR THE OPENING OF AN INTERNATIONAL SELECTION TENDER PROCEDURE FOR THE HIRING OF A DOCTORAL RESEARCHER UNDER THE LEGAL REGIME OF SCIENTIFIC EMPLOYMENT CTTI-PI-52/24-3B´s(1) Doctor Rui Manuel Costa Vieira de Castro, Professor and Rector of Universidade do Minho, in the use of his own competence, in accordance with the terms of subsection d) of section 1 of article 92 of L...

We are Hiring!!

Looking for a PhD Holder to join our team at 3B's!

If you're into applied research with a focus on biofabrication, next-generation 3D cancer models, living optical fibers, this might be for you! 🧪

Details 👉 www.euraxess.pt/jobs/316054

DMs open for Qs

Please RT for awareness 🙏

Just read this publication on @science.org and was finally pushed to create a Bluesky account

Looking forward to connect with the scientific community in here!

If that's you, reach out!!

Just read this publication on @science.org and was finally pushed to create a Bluesky account

Looking forward to connect with the scientific community in here!

If that's you, reach out!!