Gianluca GRENCI
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore
Facility Manager, Nano and Microfabrication Core
mbigg@nus.edu.sg
Level 10 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411
Prof Lim Chwee Teck received the 2025 President’s Science Award
Prof. Lim Chwee Teck was awarded the 2025 President’s Science Award (PSA) for his pioneering contributions to cancer research through innovative mechanobiology approaches, successfully bridging engineering, biological sciences and medicine to foster a deeper understanding of cancer metastasis.
Tumor-on-a-chip Shows How Microenvironment Architecture Affects Liver Cancer Therapies
Researchers from the Pavesi Group at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS develops in vitro models of liver tumors to study how the presence of vasculature networks affect cancer therapies.
Liu Shutong
Research Assistant, Hirashima Group
Seeking Research Assistant in the Vascular Mechano-medicine Lab of Dr. Shailaja Seetharaman at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking to recruit a Research Assistant in the research group of Dr. Shailaja Seetharaman at the Mechanobiology Institute and Department of Physiology at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS.
MBI-MPG 2025 Conference: A Time and Space of Learning, Honoring and Inspiration
The MBI-MPG Conference 2025: Mechanobiology in Space and Time featured a vibrant scientific programme, communal experiences in Singapore, and moments of remembrance.
Gianluca Grenci
Research Assistant Professor, Facility Manager
Research Interests
Microfluidics, Micro-optical systems for live cell imaging
Our laboratory is primarily interested in the application of micro/nano fabrication technology to biological science. We exploit standard and advanced micro-fabrication tools in order to design and produce systems and devices for cell culturing and imaging. Examples of such devices are: topographically and/or chemically micro-textured environments, microfluidic devices, micro-optical systems and more.
We are also interested in developing microfluidic devices for FTIR spectromicroscopy of living cells. FTIR is an imaging technique that is intrinsically label-free and requires minimal sample preparation; when coupled with microscopy and high brilliance IR sources it allows the acquisition of chemical maps at a resolution which is diffraction limited. Absorption of IR photons induces very low or no damage at all, therefore it is in principle possible to observe for prolonged time the behaviour of living cells. Our research activity is intended to develope microfludic platforms suitable for FTIR (key parameters are optical transparency and low IR absorption) while keeping cells alive and healthy; a beneficial feature provided by micro-fabrication approach is the possibility to control of the chemical environment at the micro-scale.
Research Areas
Micro/nano engineering, microfluidic, FTIR
Biography
Dr Gianluca Grenci joined MBI in 2012 as a research fellow and head of the Micro Fabrication Core facility. Previously he was employed at the LILIT micro/nano fabrication group (IOM-CNR, Trieste, IT) for a total of 6 years, during which he was mainly involved in the design and fabrication of microfluidic devices for synchrotron-light related spectroscopic techniques, such as SAXS and FTIR. He thus developed extensive practical knowledge on all the major lithographic technologies (UV and EB lithography, wet/dry etching, soft-lithography, thin films deposition), plus some less usual and/or more advanced technique, such as X-ray Lithography and LIGA.
He did his PhD in the field of applied superconductivity, in a project aimed to develop a current cryo-comparator (CCC) using high critical temperature superconductors of the cuprate family (YBCO) in the form of a thick film deposited onto a large area, complex shaped silver substrate.
Education
PhD Polytechnic of Torino, DISPEA
Recent Publications
- Zhang Z, Canela A, Kurisu J, Zou P, Kawaue T, Nakazawa N, Takeda N, Saeki M, Utsunomiya M, Bilgic M, Ishidate F, Grenci G, Furuta T, Kishi Y, Sasanuma H, and Kengaku M. Confined migration induces non-lethal DNA damage in developing neurons. Nature 2026;. [PMID: 42310452]
- Gandin A, Torresan V, Panciera T, Grenci G, Vanni G, Citron A, Marchionni M, Battilana G, Pelosin M, Busetto R, Piccolo S, and Brusatin G. Flexible high-resolution ECM micropatterning. Nat Protoc 2026;. [PMID: 42129485]
- Dunsing-Eichenauer V, Hummert J, Chardès C, Schönau T, Guignard L, Galland R, Grenci G, Tillmann M, Koberling F, Nock C, Sibarita J, Viasnoff V, Antolovic IM, Erdmann R, and Lenne P. Fast volumetric fluorescence lifetime imaging of multicellular systems using single-objective light-sheet microscopy. Commun Biol 2025;. [PMID: 41315677]
- Jiang X, Xu P, Feng F, Grenci G, and Saw TB. Revealing Electromechanical Control of Tissue Homeostasis Using a Two-Layer Microfluidic Device. J Vis Exp 2025;(223). [PMID: 41052031]
- Cabillic M, Forriere H, Bettarel L, Butler C, Neuhaus A, Idrissi I, Sambrano-Lopez ME, Rossbroich J, Müller L, Ries J, Grenci G, Viasnoff V, Levet F, Sibarita J, and Galland R. In-depth single molecule localization microscopy using adaptive optics and single objective light-sheet microscopy. Nat Commun 2025; 16(1):8362. [PMID: 40993142]
- Mu B, Rutkowski DM, Grenci G, Vavylonis D, and Zhang D. Ca2+-dependent vesicular and non-vesicular lipid transfer controls hypoosmotic plasma membrane expansion. BMC Biol 2025; 23(1):207. [PMID: 40629316]
- Ong HT, Karatas E, Poquillon T, Grenci G, Furlan A, Dilasser F, Mohamad Raffi SB, Blanc D, Drimaracci E, Mikec D, Galisot G, Johnson BA, Liu AZ, Thiel C, Ullrich O, , Racine V, and Beghin A. Digitalized organoids: integrated pipeline for high-speed 3D analysis of organoid structures using multilevel segmentation and cellular topology. Nat Methods 2025;. [PMID: 40369245]
- Arora A, Rizvi MS, Grenci G, Dilasser F, Fu C, Ganguly M, Vaishnavi S, Paramsivam K, Budnar S, Noordstra I, Yap AS, and Viasnoff V. Viscous dissipation in the rupture of cell-cell contacts. Nat Mater 2025;. [PMID: 40355570]
- Nakazawa N, Grenci G, Kameo Y, Takeda N, Sawada T, Kurisu J, Zhang Z, Toma K, Adachi T, Nonomura K, and Kengaku M. PIEZO1-dependent mode switch of neuronal migration in heterogeneous microenvironments in the developing brain. Cell Rep 2025; 44(3):115405. [PMID: 40053456]
- Suryana M, Produit T, Yang H, Birarda G, Shanmugar JV, Krivitsky L, Paterova A, and Grenci G. Infrared imaging with visible light in microfluidic devices: the water absorption barrier. Analyst 2024;. [PMID: 39692693]
Selected Publications
- Mona Suryana, Jegan V. Shanmugarajah, Sivakumar M. Maniam, Gianluca Grenci. Soft Lithographic Procedure for Producing Plastic Microfluidic Devices with View-ports Transparent to Visible and Infrared Light
- Mohammed Ashraf, Sree V. Sundararajan, Gianluca Grenci. Low-power, low-pressure reactive-ion etching process for silicon etching with vertical and smooth walls for mechanobiology application
Lab Members
Hannah Fung
Research Fellow, Li Group
Hatice Zohra Michèle Holuigue
Research Fellow, Young Group
Seeking Research Assistant in the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant to join the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
Zheng Kexiao
Research Associate, Yu Group
Derek Yuen Yee Jun
Research Assistant, Bershadsky Group
Lab Meeting with the Chan Lab – the Node
The Chan Lab sits down with the Node for to chat about lab life (read here)!
Defining the pattern of cell death and replacement
Researchers from the Toyama Lab at MBI reveal how mechanical factors control apoptosis and cell replacement. https://www.mbi.nus.edu.sg/featured-research/defining-the-pattern-of-cell-death-and-replacement
The Chan lab celebrates two new papers!
Congratulations to the teams! (Read the publication here and the preprint here)
Seeking Research Associate in Molecular and Cell Biology in the Kanchanawong Lab at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Associate in Molecular and Cell Biology to join the Kanchanawong at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
Teh Zhi Jing
Research Assistant, Low Group
Congratulations to Kim Whye Leong for presenting excellent work at the Imaging Mouse Development Workshop held at EMBL Heidelberg!
Congratulations to Kim Whye Leong for presenting excellent work at the Imaging Mouse Development Workshop held at EMBL Heidelberg from 2 to 5 Sept 2024. Thanks for all the feedback from the expert audience!
Seeking Research Assistant in the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant to join the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS.
Former Lab Members
Hannah Fung
Research Fellow, Li Group
Hatice Zohra Michèle Holuigue
Research Fellow, Young Group
Seeking Research Assistant in the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant to join the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
Zheng Kexiao
Research Associate, Yu Group
Derek Yuen Yee Jun
Research Assistant, Bershadsky Group
Lab Meeting with the Chan Lab – the Node
The Chan Lab sits down with the Node for to chat about lab life (read here)!
Defining the pattern of cell death and replacement
Researchers from the Toyama Lab at MBI reveal how mechanical factors control apoptosis and cell replacement. https://www.mbi.nus.edu.sg/featured-research/defining-the-pattern-of-cell-death-and-replacement
The Chan lab celebrates two new papers!
Congratulations to the teams! (Read the publication here and the preprint here)
Seeking Research Associate in Molecular and Cell Biology in the Kanchanawong Lab at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Associate in Molecular and Cell Biology to join the Kanchanawong at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
Teh Zhi Jing
Research Assistant, Low Group
Congratulations to Kim Whye Leong for presenting excellent work at the Imaging Mouse Development Workshop held at EMBL Heidelberg!
Congratulations to Kim Whye Leong for presenting excellent work at the Imaging Mouse Development Workshop held at EMBL Heidelberg from 2 to 5 Sept 2024. Thanks for all the feedback from the expert audience!
Seeking Research Assistant in the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant to join the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS.
