Engineering professor awarded NSF CAREER Award to research biofilms

May 6, 2026

KINGSTON, R.I – May 06, 2026 – Assistant professor of chemical, biomolecular, and materials engineering Irene Andreu has been awarded a 2026 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, one of the most prestigious awards available to early career faculty. The award provides selected faculty with five years of funding to support their research and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

“It feels so good to earn this award to build upon the research started in 2022. It solidifies that this research is important and necessary,” said Andreu.

Andreu loading a specimen in a Quantum Designs Versa Lab Physical Properties Measurement System to perform Vibrating Sample Magnetometry, a technique to quantify the magnetic property of nanoparticles.

Andreu’s project, titled “CAREER: Transport and transport effects of magnetic nanoparticles in bacterial biofilms,” investigates how and why magnetic particles can be used to remove biofilms. Bacterial biofilms have a wide range of impacts on the economy, society, and human health. The research could yield beneficial biofilm-removal technologies for the food industry and healthcare sectors. It will also establish a database of biofilm physical and chemical properties as reference for future uses in, for example, finding the best ways to break them down.

Left to right: 1 & 2) Two biofilms stained with crystal violet to be able to see and quantify them. 3) Biofilms incubated with magnetic nanoparticles (black dots). 4) section of a 96 well plate containing biofilms incubated with magnetic nanoparticles.

Biofilms are ubiquitous on Earth and can cause problems across diverse industries due to their resistance to physical or chemical challenges. “Not all bacteria are bad, but for example in a medical environment, bacterial biofilms can cause infection, antibiotic resistance, and other adverse effects,” said Andreu. “That is the kind of biofilm you want to be able to penetrate and remove. Traditional methods of fighting biofilms, such as antibiotic drugs, are losing their efficacy, so we need new methods for removing biofilms. Magnetic particles are interesting because you can turn on and off the antimicrobial effect with an externally applied magnetic field, but then the particles dissolve or are removed naturally without negative effects.”

The project also includes proposed experiential biofilm education from high school to graduate level, including the creation of a biofilms in engineering course, taught in conjunction with Australian colleagues at Flinders University, which will improve international collaborations as part of the AUKUS strategic partnership among the U.S., Australia, and the U.K.   

Andreu joined the URI faculty in 2022 and obtained physics degrees from the University of Zaragoza.