Mariana Medina Sanchez

Mariana Medina Sanchez is a leading Researcher at the Institute for Integrative Nanosciences (IIN) under the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW Dresden). She has served as Group Leader of the Micro- and Nanobiomedical Engineering Group since 2016, following postdoctoral work at IFW-IIN (2014–2016). Her career spans roles at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (2010–2013) and as a Full-Time Assistant Professor at San Buenaventura University (2005–2009).

Her research focuses on biohybrid microrobotics, integrating sperm cells with micro/nanotechnologies for targeted drug delivery and assisted reproduction. She has pioneered innovations in 3D/4D lithography, onboard sensors, and ultrasensitive bioimpedance platforms. Her work has been cited 3046 times with an h-index of 30.

Key publications include breakthroughs in ACS Nano, Nature Nanotechnology, and Advanced Functional Materials. She holds an ERC Starting Grant (2020–present) and has edited special issues on magnetic microrobots and small-scale swimmers. Teaching roles include Lectures on Micro- and Nanobiomedical Engineering at TU Chemnitz (2015–2021). She cofounded the National Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Council of IEEE-Colombia and contributed to 61 journal papers, 8 proceedings, and 55 invited talks globally.

Notable awards include the ERC Starting Grant. Her work bridges robotics, materials science, and clinical translation, with emphasis on medical microbots, biohybrid systems, and smart biomedical devices. She actively collaborates across Germany, Spain, and Colombia, advancing ultrasensitive diagnostics and in vivo microrobot applications.