Driven by curiosity. Driving changeBiography
Professor Lorenzo di Michele leads the Nucleic Acid Nanotechnology and Bottom-up synthetic biology group in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. His research applies the toolkit of nucleic acid nanotechnology to designing advanced biomimetic systems, including synthetic cells and organelles, applicable as biophysical models or tools tackling challenges in biomedicine.
Lorenzo obtained his MSc in Physics from at the University of L’Aquila in 2010 and completed his PhD in soft condensed matter physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge in 2013. He then held a number of research fellowships at the Cavendish Laboratory before moving to the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London as Lecturer (2019) and Senior Lecturer (2021)
He rejoined the University as an Assistant Professor in Biotechnology in 2022 and was promoted to his current role in 2024. He is a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he serves as Director of Studies in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.
Research interests
- DNA Nanotechnology
- Synthetic cells
- Soft matter
- Biomolecular condensates
- Biophysics
Professor di Michele’s group designs advanced biomimetic systems, from artificial cells to designer condensates built from DNA.
Awards and achievements
- Fellow – Pembroke College, Cambridge
- Oppenheimer Early Career Research Fellowship
- Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship
- Royal Society University Research Fellowship
- ERC Starting Grant
- IoP Liquids and Complex Fluids Early Career Award
Teaching and supervision
Professor di Michele teaches and supervises across undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Professor Lorenzo DiMichele
Professor of Bionanoscience
DNA Nanotechnology research group leader Director of EPSRC Sensor CDT