Nanostructured bone grafts with predetermined properties

Participation at international conferences

Mariana Jian, Andrei Mostovei, Ludmila Motelică, Cristian Ovidiu Oprea, Ana Maria Nacu, Vitalie Cobzac, Denisa Ficai, Valeriana Pantea, Anton FICAI, Viorel Nacu. Compozite Biomaterials based on Human Collagen: An in vivo Study. “Applications of Chemistry in Nanosciences and Biomaterials Engineering” NanoBioMat 2025 – Summer Edition; 25-27 June 2025.

Cobzac, V., Jian, M., Maritoi, T., Baranetchi, I., Malcova, T., Nacu, V. Modulation of the release profile of a biologically active compound after double loading of demineralized bone graft. In: ABSTRACT Book. 33rd Congress Annual of European Association of Tissue And Cell Banks. Tampere, Finland, 2025, p.48.

Jian, M., Fosa, D., Motelica, L., Oprea, C.O., Mostovei, A., Cobzac, V., Nacu, A.M., Ficai, D., Ficai, A., Nacu, V. Nanostructured bone graft for medical applications. In: ABSTRACT Book. 33 rd Congress Annual of European Association Of Tissue And Cell Banks. Tampere, Finland, 2025, p.49.

Jian, M., Fosa, D., Motelica, L., Oprea, C.O., Mostovei, A., Cobzac, V., Nacu, A.M., Ficai, D., Ficai, A., Nacu, V. Bone grafts functionalized with essential oils. In: Abstract Book. 33 rd Congress Annual of European Association Of Tissue And Cell Banks. Tampere, Finland, 2025, p. 50.

Jian, Mariana, Nacu, Ana-Maria, Mostovei, Andrei, Cobzac, Vitalie, Motelica, Ludmila, Oprea, Ovidiu Cristian, Pantea, Valeriana, Coreţchi, Ianoş, Ficai, Denisa, Ficai, Anton, Nacu, Viorel. Trends in the development of tissue grafts for biomedical applications. In: Cells and tissues transplantation. Actualities and perspectives, Ed. 3, 21-22 martie 2025, Chişinău. Chişinău: CEP ”Medicina”, 2025, Ediția 3, p. 47. ISBN (pdf) 978-9975-82-413-2.

Jian, Mariana, Codrea, Cosmin, Spoiala, Angela, Ficai, Denisa, Nacu, Viorel, Ficai, Anton. Material design in hard tissue engineering. In: Cells and tissues transplantation. Actualities and perspectives, Ed. 3, 21-22 martie 2025, Chişinău. Chişinău: CEP ”Medicina”, 2025, Ediția 3, p. 36. ISBN (pdf) 978-9975-82-413-2.

Mariana Jian, Angela Spoiala, Denisa Ficai, Viorel Nacu, Anton Ficai; Smart Drug Delivery Systems in Cancer Therapy; Exploring Advanced Materials and Dermocosmetic Futures; Erasmus + Blended Intensive Course, 24-28 November 2025; Iasi (Invited lecture)

Dan-Adrian Vasile, Gabriela Petrisor, Mariana JIAN, Rucsandra Dumitrescu, Ludmila Motelica, Natalia Dragut, Angela Spoiala, Roxana Trusca, Ovidiu OPREA, Dan Mihaiescu, Coralia Bleotu, Denisa Ficai, Viorel Nacu, Anton Ficai; Current and Future Applications of Mesoporous Silica; International Chemical Engineering and Material Symposium, SICHEM 2025, 06-07 November 2025 (Plenary lecture)

Ludmila Motelica, Mariana Jian, Denisa Ficai, Angela Spoiala, Roxana Trusca, Bogdan Stefan Vasile, Ovidiu Cristian Oprea, Viorel Nacu, Anton Ficai, Andronescu Ecaterina; Innovative composites based on collagen, hydroxyapatite and mesoporous silica loaded with polyphenols; NETPORE2025; September 16-18, 2025 – Tarragona (Spain) (Invited lecture)

Mariana Jian, Angela Spoiala, Ludmila Motelica, Denisa Ficai, Ovidiu Oprea, Viorel Nacu, Anton Ficai; Design and Fabrication of Bone Grafting Materials with Pure Regenerative and Antitumoral Activity; 4th Edition of the 3D Bioprinting & Cell Culture Course organized by Regemat, 7-11 July 2024, Granada, Spain (Keynote lecture)

Mariana Jian, Denisa Ficai, Viorel Nacu, Anton Ficai; Drug Delivery Systems for Loco-regional and Targeted Cancer Treatment; ICIR EuroInvent 12th Edition, 28-29 May 2026, Iasi, Romania (Keynote lecture)

Mariana Jian, Cosmin Codrea, Denisa Ficai, Viorel Nacu, Anton Ficai; Material Design in Hard Tissue Engineering; National Scientific Conference with International Participation „Cells and tissues transplantation. Actualities and perspectives. The 3rd edition” dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the founding of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Chisinau, March 21-22, 2025 (Keynote lecture)

Papers

Mariana JIAN, Angela SPOIALA, Doina FOSA, Viorel NACU, Andrei MOSTOVEI, Vitalie COBZAC, Denisa FICAI, Anton FICAI. Composite Biomaterials as Complex Grafts for Tissue Engineering: A Comprehensive Review. Advances in Polymer Technology; Under review

Dan Adrian VASILE, Ludmila MOTELICA, … and Anton FICAI; Antimicrobial Functionalized Mesoporous Silica FDU-12 Loaded with Bacitracin; Molecules; Under review

Alin BALAN, Anton FICAI; Inorganic Aerogels: Multifunctional Nanostructured Materials for Advanced Applications; Results in Chemistry; Under review

Patent Applications

Jian Mariana, MD; Ficai Anton, RO; Ficai Denisa, RO; Nacu Viorel, MD; Cobzac Vitalie, MD; Motelica Ludmila, RO; Mostovei Andrei, MD; Oprea Ovidiu-Cristian, RO; Solomon Oleg, MD; Pantea Valeriana, MD; Coreţchi Ianoş, MD. Grefă osoasă pentru restabilirea defectelor osoase. s 2025 0035.

Jian Mariana, MD; Ficai Anton, RO; Ficai Denisa, RO; Nacu Viorel, MD; Cobzac Vitalie, MD; Motelica Ludmila, RO; Mostovei Andrei, MD; Oprea Ovidiu-Cristian, RO; Solomon Oleg, MD; Malcova Tatiana, MD; Earar Kamel, RO. Grefă osoasă pentru restabilirea defectelor osoase. S 2025 0036.

Cognitive and socio-economic impact of Stage 1/2024

Stage 1 of the CollNanoBone project generated a significant cognitive impact by consolidating the interdisciplinary knowledge necessary for the development of collagen materials for bone reconstruction by developing grafts that combine human collagen, obtained by extracting human collagen from the human umbilical-placental complex and the mineralization technology applied in the past in the presence of bovine collagen. It is essential to mention that the need for bone grafts is very high, with statistical data showing that 49% of the total grafts used being bone grafts while skin, nerve and blood vessel grafts, together, sum up ~30%. The activities undertaken are strongly interdisciplinary and specific activities in fields such as biotechnology, micro/nanotechnologies, chemical engineering, materials science and advanced industrial processes. The activities involved both exchanges of information, knowledge and highly qualified personnel (doctoral students), thus facilitating a common cognitive framework, urgently needed for the development of technologies and products with impact in the field of medical devices and in society.

From a socio-economic point of view, the activities carried out in this stage led to proving the feasibility of developing bone grafts, the experimental models showing the high potential for industrial and commercial exploitation.

The project also generates socio-economic impact through:

• The development of highly qualified personnel through a doctorate, capable of developing bone grafts;
• The development of bone grafts is essential because the need for bone grafts cannot be covered from natural grafts (auto-allo or xenograft) and implicitly the development of (semi)synthetic bone grafts is essential;
• The implementation of European strategies regarding sustainability and circularity are essential. The use of placenta (waste) and the development of bone grafts bring enormous added value;
• Stimulating interdisciplinary and international collaboration has a favorable effect on the national and regional research and development ecosystem. Including at the international level, the approaches are at the beginning of their journey, so the potential is very high.
• Increasing visibility by disseminating the project results in conferences, exhibitions and by updating the project’s web platform.

Cognitive and socio-economic impact of Stage 2/2025

Stage 2 of the CollNanoBone project is intended to improve the composition and, implicitly, the functional performance of bone grafts. By developing mesoporous materials for improving COLL/HA grafts, antimicrobial solutions or for healing defects that would otherwise be difficult to heal (for example, fractures associated with osteoporotic bones can be reached.

Cognitive impact

Stage 2 generates significant cognitive progress, providing the consortium with a national and international advantage, being able to ensure a longer-term activity than simple COLL/HA composite systems.

• Finalization of the technology for obtaining collagen and Coll/HA composites. The process involved the advanced evaluation of these materials and the possibility of extending these technologies in order to obtain ternary or more complex systems with antimicrobial role or advanced healing capacity.
• Development of mesoporous materials loaded with active principles such as: MCM-41_coriander oil; MCM-41_folic acid; MCM-41_caffeic acid; MCM-41_gallic acid; MCM-41_ZnONP and MCM-41_CuONPs starting from silica standard mesoporous and directly loading them with active principles or precursors to be transformed into the compounds of interest, directly in the pores, through the technique developed in our team.
• Expansion of the technology for obtaining composite materials for the incorporation of mesoporous systems loaded with active principles:
• Standardization of scientific procedures for the characterization and evaluation of bone grafts: through advanced collaboration between the consortium partners but also through scientific collaboration with third-party partners.

Socio-economic impact

The socio-economic impact of Stage 2 derives from the consolidation of the national technological capacity for the production of medical biomaterials in a field of great interest, considering national and European statistics, considering the „global aging of the population”, the increase in the incidence of osteoporosis and other specific diseases.

The main socio-economic effects include:

• Increasing innovation capacity: creating advanced complex systems that can continue on the TRL scale towards the launch of new, biomimetic products, starting from human collagen and HA synthesized in situ and incorporating variable amounts of mesoporous silica loaded with active principles, personalized for each patient.
• Stimulating the national research ecosystem in the field of medical devices and identifying potential companies capable of continuing this research towards the market.
• Improving the quality of life by developing personalized grafts starting from human collagen (perhaps even from one’s own placenta harvested at birth);
• Increasing institutional competitiveness by consolidating the scientific and technological portfolios of partners.
• Positive impact on the medical system, especially through the Cell and Tissue Bank of the Republic of Moldova, but also through the national medical system.
• Increasing visibility, through dissemination in conferences, workshops, exhibitions and by updating the project’s web platform.

Cognitive and socio-economic impact of Stage 3/2026

Stage 3 of the project is dedicated to finalizing the testing, validation and homologation of the technologies and bone grafts developed.

Cognitive impact

During Stage 3, the consortium teams accumulate and consolidate advanced knowledge regarding the industrial validation and homologation processes of biomedical products, by:

• Finalizing controlled release studies of active principles;
• Creating product sheets related to the developed materials;
• Identifying the potential for further research;

Socio-economic impact

Stage 3 directly contributes to the creation of major socio-economic effects, considering the validation of the technologies and the finalization of the characterization and biological evaluation of the developed materials. An important aspect will be associated with the dissemination of the results nationally and internationally.