Biophysics, Medical Physics and Cultural Heritage
Modern integrative biophysics is the multi-disciplinary search for principles that bridge the several time and space scales over which living systems represent themselves. This area of research in our department is open towards the application of physical methods to diagnostic and treatment problems in Medicine and Cultural Heritage.
- Biophysics
Modern integrative biophysics is the multi-disciplinary search for principles that bridge the several time and space scales over which living systems represent themselves. From the basic level of atoms and single molecules, up to the intracellular level of mesoscopic nanostructures and of genetic and metabolic networks; up to the dynamics of whole cells both as single entities and as tissutal aggregates; up to the collective signalling behaviour of animal systems and ecologies. This broad view rests on subtle experimental techniques, on mathematical methods borrowed from the physics of disordered systems, from the statistical physics of soft materials and from computational biology.
- Medical Physics
Methods and technologies developed in physics can be successfully applied to life science. Our department is involved in several projects starting from the development of radiotherapy with ion beams (the so called hadrotherapy), to applications for nuclear medicine (such as radio-guided-surgery). The multidisciplinary nature of the activity implies important collaborations with physicians, chemists, biologists and engineers. A significant patenting and technology transfer activity is also ongoing.
- Cultural Heritage
When ancient artifacts are investigated using powerful non-invasive techniques typical of the physical sciences, including Raman spectroscopy, Nuclear-Magnetic-Resonance, multispectral photometry, Terahertz confocal microscopy, and super-resolved imaging, hidden features and traits are revealed that hold the key to their identification, conservation, and, in some cases, even to their understanding.