Projects

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the 6th most common cancer worldwide, and advanced HNSCC patients often experience relapse or metastasis (R/M HNSCC) resulting in dismal prognoses. These patients receive immunotherapy (ICI) alone or in combination with platinum-based chemotherapeutics (PLAT) as first-line treatment. While these combination treatments have some clinical benefit, they are limited by low response rates and severe ...

Non-thermal plasma technology is gaining attention as a novel cancer therapeutic. In the clinic, plasma has been applied to patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the 6th most common cancer worldwide with long-term survival below 50%. While initial studies are promising (e.g. partial remission, decreased levels of pain, no reported side-effects), a critical issue became apparent when translating plasma technology from the ...

Cancer therapy has been rapidly transforming in part due to progress in seemingly unrelated fields. This has led to the development of profound tools for studying cancer pathways and innovative therapies. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a novel treatment that has been emerging for cancer immunotherapy. Bioinformatics is another field experiencing rapid growth, as the ability to collect and process large amounts of 'omics' data has become ...

The SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic has exposed how unprepared our society was in preventing the propagation of highly infectious diseases, protecting the healthcare providers and patients, and efficiently organizing the logistics, while managing large numbers of patients. For the past two years, hospitals have battled to mitigate the spread of the virus in their facilities, a challenge that included the need to daily dispose of ...

Recently, a new approach based on non-thermal plasma (NTP) to treat cancer cells is gaining interest in the medical field. Plasma is an ionized gas. It is a highly reactive mixture, containing electrons, ions, radicals and energetic neutrals, while still operating at room temperature. Precisely this combination of reactive species and low gas temperature makes it suitable for treating biological samples. It is suggested that the killing capacity ...

This ERC Synergy project will introduce a ground-breaking approach to use renewable energy in three major industrial reactions: 1) N2 fixation, 2) CH4 valorization and 3) CO2 conversion to liquid solar fuels. We will use non-thermal plasma, which has large potential to convert these small (low reactive) molecules under near ambient temperature and pressure, particularly for distributed processes based on renewable energy. The new processes have ...

Non-thermal plasma is gaining interest in recent years for cancer treatment. The underlying mechanisms are, however, not fully understood. Therefore, in this project we will study the interaction of plasma with cancer cells in vitro, and also perform computer simulations. The experiments will be carried out with a plasma jet, operating in helium with some oxygen and/or nitrogen, at different conditions. The plasma is created between two ...

The general purpose of the project is to use non-thermal atmospheric plasma technology as an eco-friendly surface modification method to replace the currently used non-ecofriendly processes and/or to achieve surface properties which are not within reach with other conventional processes. Within the PlasmaSol project, this technology will be researched to (i) assure a good adhesion between various substrates and foils or coatings, (ii) provide ...

There is a growing interest into strategies to convert CO2 into high-value chemicals. An interesting route is hydrogenation to CH3OH, which is a valuable fuel and chemical intermediate. However, by heterogeneous catalysis, the CO2 conversion and the corresponding CH3OH selectivity are limited by thermodynamics. A possible solution is combining catalysis with non-thermal plasma, which offers a unique way to enable kinetically limited processes, ...

The beginning of the 21st century is marked by the rising awareness of global warming. The greenhouse gases CO2 and CH4 emitted in the atmosphere by industrial processes and the transportation sector are of major concern. Several efforts are being reported for greenhouse gas reduction by means of process optimization and application of new technologies. A new, promising method is the conversion of these greenhouse gases into value-added ...