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
Farewell Avery, All the Best!
Farewell to Dr. Avery Rui Sun, a former PhD student at the Young Lab from 2021-2026!
Ting, Hatice and Raageshwari in ASBTE Conference 2026
The Young Lab attends the 2026 Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (ASBTE) from 30 Mar-2 Apr 2026!
Raageshwari and Hatice visit Prof. Khoon Lim’s Lab in USyd
Raageshwari and Hatice from the Young Lab visits Prof. Khoon Lim's lab in USyd.
Pallavi Chinnu Varghese
Research Fellow, Young Group
Takafumi Sakai
Research Fellow, Hirashima Group
Paulina Magdalena Pokorska
Research Fellow, Li Group
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
She is a Scientist: Confidence Formed by Curiosity Over Time
February 11th celebrates The International Day of Women and Girls in Science to promote full, equal access and participation in STEM fields. MBI talks to two of our posdoctoral research fellows about their career as a woman in science.
WANG Liyue
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Yan Jie Group
She is Becoming: Curiosity, Comparison and the Making of a Scientist
February 11th celebrates The International Day of Women and Girls in Science to promote full, equal access and participation in STEM fields. MBI talks to two of our PhD students about their journey in becoming a scientist as women.
How Structural Imbalance Drives Inflammatory Signaling in Senescent Cells
In a study published in Molecular Biology of the Cell led by Celestine Ho at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, researchers discover that HIF-1α-activation in SASP is a defining feature of the SASP induced by diverse stressors, acting independently of micronuclei generation and cGAS/STING activation.
Chin Sze Khen
Research Assistant, Yu Group
MBI Hosts Students from Sakura High School!
MBI hosted students from Sakura High School, Chiba, Japan on 22nd January 2026 for an outreach session designed to spark curiosity about mechanobiology and research careers.
Seeking Research Assistant in the Young Laboratory, Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
The Mechanobiology Institute, NUS seeks to recruit a Research Assistant to join us in the research group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young.
Beyond the Trend: Creating the Next Frontier in Cell Biology
Beyond the Trend: Creating the Next Frontier in Cell Biology. A message from Prof. Rong Li, MBI Director and 2026 President of the American Society for Cell Biology.
Violet vs. Blue: Controlling Mechanotransduction with a Single-protein Light Switch
In a study published in the Journal of Cell Science, led by Ryosuke Nishimura at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, researchers developed an optogenetic tool to precisely manipulate talin’s structure and observe the resulting cellular behavior.
Yiwen Zhu
Research Fellow, Yu Group
Brandon Goh Yeow Wee
Research Fellow, Seetharaman Group
Hana Maldivita Tambrin
Research Fellow, Seetharaman Group
Former Lab Members
She is a Scientist: Confidence Formed by Curiosity Over Time
February 11th celebrates The International Day of Women and Girls in Science to promote full, equal access and participation in STEM fields. MBI talks to two of our posdoctoral research fellows about their career as a woman in science.
WANG Liyue
PhD Student, Class of August 2025, Yan Jie Group
She is Becoming: Curiosity, Comparison and the Making of a Scientist
February 11th celebrates The International Day of Women and Girls in Science to promote full, equal access and participation in STEM fields. MBI talks to two of our PhD students about their journey in becoming a scientist as women.
How Structural Imbalance Drives Inflammatory Signaling in Senescent Cells
In a study published in Molecular Biology of the Cell led by Celestine Ho at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, researchers discover that HIF-1α-activation in SASP is a defining feature of the SASP induced by diverse stressors, acting independently of micronuclei generation and cGAS/STING activation.
Chin Sze Khen
Research Assistant, Yu Group
MBI Hosts Students from Sakura High School!
MBI hosted students from Sakura High School, Chiba, Japan on 22nd January 2026 for an outreach session designed to spark curiosity about mechanobiology and research careers.
Seeking Research Assistant in the Young Laboratory, Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
The Mechanobiology Institute, NUS seeks to recruit a Research Assistant to join us in the research group of Asst. Prof. Jennifer Young.
Beyond the Trend: Creating the Next Frontier in Cell Biology
Beyond the Trend: Creating the Next Frontier in Cell Biology. A message from Prof. Rong Li, MBI Director and 2026 President of the American Society for Cell Biology.
Violet vs. Blue: Controlling Mechanotransduction with a Single-protein Light Switch
In a study published in the Journal of Cell Science, led by Ryosuke Nishimura at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS, researchers developed an optogenetic tool to precisely manipulate talin’s structure and observe the resulting cellular behavior.
Yiwen Zhu
Research Fellow, Yu Group
Brandon Goh Yeow Wee
Research Fellow, Seetharaman Group
Hana Maldivita Tambrin
Research Fellow, Seetharaman Group
