Dr. Isabella Fiorello is a Junior Group Leader at the Cluster of Excellence Living, Adaptive and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) of the University of Freiburg, leading the Biohybrid Machines group. Since October 2023, she has been a Fulbright Scholar at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, California). She is the principal investigator of several European and international projects, including a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network and an Early Career National Geographic Grant. During her scientific career, she has received multiple prestigious awards, including the Young Researcher of the Year – ENI Award (2022) and the Fulbright Grant. She received a Master’s Degree in Industrial Biotechnology (with honors) from the University of Turin (Italy) in 2017 and a PhD in Biorobotics (with honors) from the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (Pisa, Italy) in 2021. From 2021 to 2023, she worked as Postdoc in the Bioinspired Soft Robotics Laboratory of Italian Institute of Technology (Genoa, Italy). Her research focuses on the development of bioinspired and biohybrid microfabricated systems and living materials capable of interacting with complex, unstructured environments, with applications in precision agriculture, smart textiles, space exploration, and soft robotics.

Yuanquan Liu received her bachelor's degree in Packaging Engineering in 2020 and her master's degree in Materials and Chemical Engineering from Nanjing Forestry University in 2023. She joined the Fiorello team in May 2024 as a PhD student. Her research aims to develop plant-inspired biohybrid materials that can be used in small bionic soft robots.

David Schultz has over 15 years experience in the field of metal-working industry. He has a bachelor professional of metal production and management. He joined the Fiorello group as technical assistant in April 2024, where he supports the group in the field of purchasing and maintenance of the laboratories.