Adolphe Merkle Institute alum Hana Barosova has been awarded the 2020 Faculty Prize for best doctoral thesis in life sciences at the University of Fribourg.

Hana, who was a member of the AMI BioNanomaterials group, was recognized by the Faculty of Science and Medicine for the work leading to her PhD on “3D human co-cultures for predicting nanomaterial possible adverse effects on human health with a focus on multi-walled carbon nanotubes”. She developed an in vitro testing strategy for aerosolized nanomaterials mimicking occupational exposure conditions. This included the implementation of reliable and responsive human alveolar cell culture models, as well as an exposure scenario for repeated long-term exposures of nanomaterials exposed to lungs cells the air-liquid interface.

Hana was previously awarded the Student Research prize for her project at ISAM 2019 (International Society for Aerosols in Medicine) in Montreux, Switzerland. Her PhD was financially and scientifically supported by PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. (PISC), MatTek Corporation and the EU project “Physiologically Anchored Tools for Realistic nanOmateriaL hazard aSsessment (PATROLS)”.