Principal Investigator Simone Perottoni, PhD – Fondazione Cariplo Young Researchers Call – Grant n 2024-1070
Our research
A biomimetic MRI-compatible artificial cochlea to unravel the role of inner ear-brain fluids exchange on amyloid-beta clearance in dementia
Hearing loss is one of the main risk factors for dementia. But how do the ear and brain communicate? In addition to electrical signals, they exchange specialized fluids that are still poorly understood. The EAR2BRAIN project aims to develop personalized cochlea models compatible with MRI, combining computational fluid dynamics analyses with 3D-printed physical models created using biomimetic fabrication techniques.
These models will allow the study of fluid exchanges between the inner ear and the brain and their role in the link between hearing loss and dementia, helping to better understand the behavior of key molecules such as the beta-amyloid, and opening new avenues for diagnosis and innovative sound-based therapies.
News & Events
Workshop on Manufacturing and Microfluidics
4th-6th February 2026 – Milan
Giorgia, Sofia, and Simone attended a workshop chaired by Prof. Andrea Bassi at the Physics Engineering Department at Politecnico di Milano on advanced manufacturing and microfluidics for miniaturized systems.
Over two days of high-level talks, they explored cutting-edge techniques from two-photon polymerization to laser micromachining. On the final day, Giorgia and Sofia got hands-on experience, designing and fabricating a chip prototype using laser micromachining.
A fantastic learning opportunity that will undoubtedly inspire their ongoing projects!
Alpine Winter School for Biofabrication
An amazing start to 2026 at the Alpine Winter School for Biofabrication in Radstadt (Austria)!
It was an incredible opportunity to learn about the latest advances in biofabrication, all in a stunning setting surrounded by snow and delicious Tyrolean cuisine. I had the chance to present our project, meet inspiring researchers, exchange knowledge, and, of course, enjoy some fun along the way.
A truly unforgettable experience that combines science, networking, and a bit of winter magic! ⛷️✨
2025 Christmas APERITIVO!
16th December 2025 – Milan
Invited Seminar at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research
2nd December 2025 – Milan
I had the pleasure of delivering an invited seminar at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, kindly hosted by Dr. Diego Albani.
The seminar, entitled “In Vitro Fluidic Platforms to Model Multiorgan Crosstalk in Neuroscience” and focused on advanced in vitro fluidic systems for studying inter-organ communication and their applications in neuroscience research.
I am grateful to Dr. Albani and the Mario Negri Institute for the invitation and for the stimulating scientific discussion.
Lecture on Organ-On-Chips
14th October 2025 – Ghent
It was truly stimulating to discuss organ-on-chip technologies, in vitro modeling, and their applications with the master’s students in Biomedical Sciences at Ghent University.
Many thanks to Prof. Ruslan Dmitriev for the kind invitation.
PhD Defense – Ghent University
13th October 2025 – Ghent
It was a great pleasure to serve as a jury member for the PhD defense of Laure Maes at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University.
The thesis, “Exploring novel in vitro tools to unravel gut-blood-brain communication”, was supervised by Debby Laukens and Roosmarijn Vandenbroucke.
Congratulations to Laure Maes and the IBD Research Unit and Barriers in Inflammation Lab for this excellent work.
CITT Annual Course @ Human Technopole
This year, I was there too at the CITT Annual Course at Human Technopole. An inspiring and formative week dedicated to technology transfer and strategies to maximize the impact of our research.
Shooting Day at the TechnoBiology Labs!
Ear2Brain will also be hosted at the Technobiology Labs, DCMC Department, Politecnico di Milano, led by Prof. Carmen Giordano, who was also my PhD advisor.
We thank Prof. Giordano and the team for their support and collaboration.
Congratulations!
We are proud to celebrate Martina Lodetti, Chiara Mainetti, Felice Merlini, and Alice Olivares, who have successfully earned their Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering.
They defended their thesis entitled “Towards the Engineering of the Inner Ear: An Integrated Collection of Parameters for Biomimetic Modeling“. A comprehensive and up-to-date review of the advances in biomimetic approaches to inner ear modeling.
Congratulations on this important milestone, and best wishes for your future professional journeys!
MEETmeTONIGHT 2025 – European Researchers Night
27th September 2025
It was fun taking part in MEETmeTONIGHT this year, as part of the European Researchers’ Night, presenting EAR2BRAIN!
It’s truly exciting to meet so many people interested in research and to discuss science in such an open and inclusive environment!
Thanks to Fondazione Cariplo for the invitation, and to everyone who made this event possible.
Exciting news!
19th December 2024
I’m thrilled to announce the funding of my research project EAR2BRAIN!
Here we celebrated with some good spumante!
I am honored to receive this grant from Fondazione Cariplo through the Young Researchers program, with €200,000 support over the next three years.
This marks an important milestone in my academic and professional journey, and I’m excited to embark on this new adventure as Principal Investigator.
🙏 Sincere thanks to Fondazione Cariplo for this incredible opportunity, to Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica “Giulio Natta” – Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Milano for hosting me, and to my fantastic collaborators and mentors who have supported me throughout this journey.
THEY TALK ABOUT US
EUROPEAN TALENT ACADEMY 2026
DCMC | Magazine – LinkedIN – Instagram
27 January 2026
Simone Perottoni, postdoc researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, has been selected for the 2026 edition of the European Talent Academy (ETA).
The European Talent Academy is an international networking and advanced training programme jointly promoted by the Technical University of Munich and Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with Imperial College London. The initiative is aimed at outstanding young researchers and seeks to strengthen scientific skills, academic leadership, and the ability to develop interdisciplinary and international collaborations.
Politecnico di Milano on X.com
DCMC – Magazine
11 November 2025
Progetto EAR2BRAIN | Simone Perottoni
Ha preso il via EAR2BRAIN, progetto di ricerca di Simone Perottoni – assegnista di ricerca del Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica “Giulio Natta”- finanziato dal Bando “Giovani Ricercatori” di Fondazione Cariplo.
Questi modelli consentiranno di studiare gli scambi di fluidi tra orecchio interno e cervello e il loro ruolo nella relazione tra perdita uditiva e demenza, permettendo di comprendere meglio anche il comportamento di molecole chiave come la beta-amiloide, aprendo nuove prospettive per diagnosi e terapie innovative basate sulla stimolazione sonora.
DCMC – Magazine
CMIC @ MEETmeTONIGHT | 2025
All’interno di MEETmeTONIGHT, l’evento organizzato in occasione della Notte Europea delle Ricercatrici e dei Ricercatori, che coinvolge cittadine, cittadini e protagonisti della ricerca.
Segnaliamo le attività a cura di docenti e ricercatori del Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica “Giulio Natta”:
TALK Il segreto nascosto tra orecchio e cervello: nuovi strumenti per studiare la demenza – EAR2BRAIN
Simone Perottoni
La perdita dell’udito è un fattore di rischio per la demenza. Ma come comunicano orecchio e cervello? Oltre ai segnali elettrici, si scambiano fluidi specializzati ancora poco studiati. Il progetto EAR2BRAIN mira a creare modelli 3D personalizzati di coclea, la parte interna dell’orecchio, compatibili con la risonanza magnetica, per osservare questi scambi invisibili e aprire nuove strade nella diagnosi e cura delle malattie neurodegenerative.
Progetto finanziato dal Bando “Giovani Ricercatori” di Fondazione Cariplo.
MMT – Website
Il segreto nascosto tra orecchio e cervello: nuovi strumenti per studiare la demenza – EAR2BRAIN
27 Settembre @ 17:40 – 18:00
La perdita dell’udito è un fattore di rischio per la demenza. Ma come comunicano orecchio e cervello? Oltre ai segnali elettrici, si scambiano fluidi specializzati ancora poco studiati. Il progetto EAR2BRAIN mira a creare modelli 3D personalizzati di coclea, la parte interna dell’orecchio, compatibili con la risonanza magnetica, per osservare questi scambi invisibili e aprire nuove strade nella diagnosi e cura delle malattie neurodegenerative.
Con Simone Perottoni, Politecnico di Milano.
Progetto finanziato dal Bando “Giovani Ricercatori” di Fondazione Cariplo.
People
SIMONE PEROTTONI
Principal Investigator
Dept. Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” – Politecnico di Milano – TechnoBiology Labs
Email: simone.perottoni@polimi.it
ORCID: 0000-0003-1640-2170
Simone Perottoni is a biomedical engineer and early-career investigator with a background in advanced in vitro models and microphysiological systems for neuroscience research. He obtained his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2019 and earned his PhD in Bioengineering in 2023, where he developed multiorgan organ-on-a-chip platforms to model systemic interactions relevant to the microbiota-gut–brain axis in the ERC-MINERVA project at TechnoBiology Labs lead by Prof. Carmen Giordano. His research training includes international experiences at the Monaghan Lab (Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland), where he worked on bioreactors for real-time FLIM-based metabolic imaging of stem cells under the mentorship of Prof. Michael Monaghan and Prof. Manuela T Raimondi, and at the Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Group (Ghent University, Belgium), focusing on advanced organoid-based in vitro models under Prof. Ruslan Dmitriev. These experiences shaped his expertise in microfluidics, bioengineered culture systems, and biomimetic fluidic platforms to investigate inter-organ communication in the nervous system.
He is currently the Young Principal Investigator of the EAR2BRAIN project, funded by Fondazione Cariplo’s “Young Researchers” grant (2024), where he leads a multidisciplinary team investigating sound-driven fluid exchange in ear–brain communication and its implications for dementia and hearing loss.
RESEARCH TEAM
Giorgia Pistelli
Email: giorgia.pistelli@mail.polimi.it
MSc student
Giorgia graduated in Biomedical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2024. For her Bachelor’s thesis, she carried out an original project entitled “Cardiorespiratory effects during laughter and after 16 laughter therapy sessions in healthy subjects”. She is particularly interested in biocompatibility and cell culture, with the primary goal of developing clinically relevant in vitro systems to study diseases, especially neurodegenerative disorders. She is currently focusing on the development of a brain-on-a-chip platform to model meningeal drainage under pathophysiological conditions, aiming to precisely characterize the mechanisms occurring within the subarachnoid space and the cerebral parenchyma..
Andrea Sogno
Email: andrea.sogno@mail.polimi.it
MSc student
Andrea completed his Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2024, with a thesis focused on the state of the art of cell delivery therapies for tissue regeneration. During his studies, he developed a strong interest in the computational analysis of biological structures and processes, particularly in their application to the development of novel therapeutic approaches for diseases. He is currently working on his Master’s thesis project, which focuses on the multiparametric computational analysis of inner ear–brain exchange dynamics through the cochlear and vestibular aqueducts.
Sofia Vezzani
MSc Student
ADVISORY TEAM
Doct. Diego Albani
Department of Neuroscience – Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS
Role in the project: Project mentor and expert in molecular biology and neural disease modelling
Prof. Federica Boschetti
Politecnico di Milano, Associate Professor
Role in the project: Expertise in tissues biomechanics computational modelling
Prof. Ileana Jelescu
Dept. of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland; Assistant Professor
Role in the project: Expertise in high field preclinical MRI, and in glymphatic imaging using diffusion MRI.
ALUMNI
Martina Lodetti
Undergraduate Student
Chiara Mainetti
Undergraduate Student
Felice Merlini
Undergraduate Student
Alice Olivares
Undergraduate Student