Ana MORA BOZA profile

I am an Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Munich (Germany), where I have led the Organoid Systems and Biointerfaces laboratory since February 2026. My lab focuses on engineering human-relevant in vitro models by integrating cell-instructive biomaterials, organoid technologies, and microphysiological systems. In particular, we develop dynamic and tunable biomaterial-based microenvironments to investigate how biochemical and biophysical cues regulate tissue function in health and disease, with a strong focus on intestinal and women’s health applications and sex differences in chronic inflammation. I completed my PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and ICTP-CSIC (Spain) under the supervision of Prof. Julio San Román, where I worked on the development of biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. During my PhD, I also carried out international research stays in Germany and at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States. I subsequently joined Georgia Tech as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Andrés J. García, where I expanded my expertise toward engineered extracellular matrices, organoid culture systems, and microphysiological platforms. I later continued my research at the University of Galway (Ireland) as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow with Prof. Abhay Pandit. In 2026, I was appointed Assistant Professor at TUM and awarded a NanoMatFutur grant from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), providing approximately €1.93 million to establish my independent research laboratory. My current research combines synthetic and dynamic biomaterials, human organoid systems, microfluidics, and multicellular co-culture models to create experimentally controllable tissue microenvironments and investigate how extracellular-matrix properties, inflammatory signals, and cellular interactions shape human tissue function and disease.

My research combines biomaterials engineering, organoid technology, and microphysiological systems to develop human-relevant in vitro models with precise control over the tissue microenvironment. My expertise lies particularly in the design of synthetic and dynamic hydrogel systems, including PEG-based and supramolecular biomaterials, whose biochemical and mechanical properties can be independently tuned to regulate cell behaviour. I integrate these materials with human intestinal organoids, immune cells, and other tissue-relevant cell types in microfluidic and organ-on-chip platforms. A major focus of my work is the engineering of extracellular-matrix-inspired environments in which parameters such as stiffness, viscoelasticity, ligand presentation, spatial organization, and inflammatory signals can be systematically manipulated. I also have experience in microfabrication, hydrogel photopatterning, organoid culture, multicellular co-culture systems, and molecular and functional characterization of engineered tissues. By combining these approaches, I aim to dissect how defined biochemical, mechanical, and cellular cues regulate tissue function and disease-associated phenotypes in human models, particularly in the context of intestinal inflammation, sex differences, and women’s health.