Biography

Tiago H. Silva is Principal Researcher (tenured) at 3B’s Research Group, I3Bs – Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, from University of Minho (Portugal), member of ICVS/3B’s Associated Laboratory, being coordinator of research on Marine Inspired Biomaterials. He is member of the General Council of the University of Minho and of the Unit Council and the Scientific Council of I3Bs.
He his graduated in Chemistry (2001) and PhD in Chemistry (2006), both by Faculty of Sciences – University of Porto (Portugal) working in surface modification by electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayers, with a visiting period at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland).
He has about 18 years of experience in valorization of marine resources and by-products and his research focus on the cross-talk between blue and red biotechnologies, by aiming the development of marine inspired biomaterials for regenerative medicine strategies, mainly focusing on bone, cartilage, osteochondral, skin and cornea tissue engineering, as well as on diabetes and cancer advanced therapies. His team (currently 9 people) has established methodologies for the production of marine collagens, squid chitosan, fucoidans, calcium phosphates and biosilica from marine resources and derived by-products and their processing (freeze-drying, photocrosslinking and gelation, polymer complexation, 3D (bio)printing, among others) envisioning biomedical application. Marine biomimetics is also being explored, looking into specific features of marine sponges and other marine invertebrates as inspiration for the design of innovative biomedical applications and smart materials. A focus is given to functional properties, enrolled in collagen aggregation, and hierarchical morphologies.
These research activities have been developed through the coordination or participation on several collaborative projects (FP7/H2020/HEurope, INTERREG POCTEP and Atlantic Area, COMPETE2020, NORTE2020, FCT, EEA Grants PT, PRR - NextGenerationEU), corresponding to the management of a total budget close to 19 M€ (about 5.6 M€ of funding for UMinho).
As result of his research efforts, Tiago H. Silva is the author or co-author of over 100 published or accepted scientific papers, 16 book chapters, 7 patent applications, with more than 3500 citations and h-index 34 (WoS Clarivate Analytics), besides several (invited) oral and poster communications in international meetings.
He has been also active on the organization of symposia and workshops on natural origin materials and marine biomaterials, participates in several high-level working groups on marine biotechnology and is, since January 2024, the President of the European Society for Marine Biotechnology (ESMB).
Tiago H. Silva is married and a proud father of four.