Researcher basic information

• Ph.D. in Physics and Chemistry of Materials, Sorbonne University, Paris, Sep. 2019
• Master 2 in Chemistry of Materials, Sorbonne University, Paris, Sep. 2016
• French Engineering Diploma in Urban Engineering, Ecole des Ingénieurs de la Ville de Paris (EIVP Grad School), Paris, Sep. 2015

• https://researchmap.jp/lama?lang=en

• https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8373-6336
• https://jglobal.jst.go.jp/detail?JGLOBAL_ID=202301019294984977

• 70985051

• https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8373-6336

• 202301019294984977

• soft matter, hydrogels, self-assembly, photonics, biomimetism, mechanical properties

• Life Science, Biomaterials, Biomimetic collagen materials, biomineralization
• Natural Science, Biophysics, chemical physics and soft matter physics, Physics and Chemistry of Materials

Research activity information

• Apr. 2020, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Postdoctoral fellowship standard program (24 months)
• Dec. 2019, Société Chimique de France (French Society of Chemistry), PhD Thesis Prize in Chemistry of Materials
• Dec. 2018, Doctoral School Physics and Chemistry of Materials (Sorbonne University), Best oral presentation

• Porous and Tough Polyacrylamide/Carboxymethyl Cellulose Gels Chemically Crosslinked via Cryo-UV Polymerization for Sustained Drug Release
  Duangkamon Viboonratanasri; Daniel Rudolf King; Tsuyoshi Okumura; Mohamad Alaa Terkawi; Yoshinori Katsuyama; Milena Lama; Tomoki Yasui; Takayuki Kurokawa
  Gels, 11, 6, 453, 453, MDPI AG, 13 Jun. 2025, [Peer-reviewed]
  Scientific journal, While carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)—a biocompatible and water-soluble cellulose derivative—holds promise for biomedical applications, challenges remain in synthesizing CMC-based hydrogels with covalent crosslinking through free radical polymerization without requiring complex, multi-step processes. In this study, we introduce a facile one-pot strategy that combines CMC with acrylamide (AAm) under cryogelation and low-intensity UV irradiation to achieve covalent bonding and a high polymerization yield. The resulting polyacrylamide/carboxymethyl cellulose (PAAm/CMC) porous gels were systematically evaluated for their chemical, physical, thermal, and drug-release properties, with a focus on the effects of AAm concentration and polymerization temperature (frozen vs. room temperature). Notably, the cryogel synthesized with 2.5 M AAm (PC2.5) exhibited significantly enhanced mechanical properties—that is, an 8.4-fold increase in tensile modulus and a 26-fold increase in toughness—compared with the non-cryo gel. Moreover, PC2.5 demonstrated excellent cyclic compression stability in water and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), with less than 10% reduction in modulus after 100 cycles. These increases in the mechanical properties of PC2.5 are attributed to the formation of macropores with high polymer density and high crosslinking density at the pore walls. PC2.5 also showed slower drug release in PBS and good cytocompatibility. This study presents a simplified and efficient route for fabricating mechanically robust, covalently crosslinked PAAm/CMC cryogels, highlighting their strong potential for biomedical applications in drug delivery systems.
• Hierarchical Collagen/Apatite Co-assembly for Injection of Mineralized Fibrillar Tissue Analogues
  Milena Lama; Marion Merle; Elora Bessot; Camila Bussola Tovani; Guillaume Laurent; Nicole Bouland; Halima Kerdjoudj; Thierry Azaïs; Guylaine Ducouret; Tissiana Bortolotto; Nadine Nassif
  ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 13 Jan. 2025, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author]
  Scientific journal
• Soft hydrogel-embedded ceramic skeleton mimicking bone structure via sacrificial bond concept
  Sukamto; Milena Lama; Jian Ping Gong; Takayuki Nonoyama
  Soft Matter, 2025, [Peer-reviewed]
  English, Scientific journal, Bone, consisting of calcium phosphate minerals, rigid collagen fibrils, and acidic proteins, exhibits stiff and tough mechanical properties. On a molecular scale, covalent cross-linking in proteins, ionic interactions within proteins...
• Fatigue Behaviors of Anisotropic Hydrogels with a Macroscopic Lamellar Bilayer Structure and Swelling Effects
  Most Laboni Begum; Milena Lama; Wenqi Yang; Xiang Li; Md. Anamul Haque; Xueyu Li; Jian Ping Gong
  Macromolecules, American Chemical Society (ACS), 26 Nov. 2024, [Peer-reviewed]
  Scientific journal
• Structural Color Materials with Color Mixing Effect Using Noble Metal‐Free Plasmonic Particles in SiO2–ZrN System
  Shinji Noguchi; Milena Lama; Yuta Fujii; Akira Miura; Kiyoharu Tadanaga
  Advanced Optical Materials, Jul. 2024, [Peer-reviewed]
  Scientific journal
• Mechanical Reinforcement of Lamellar Bilayer Hydrogels by Small Amounts of Co-surfactants
  Milena Lama; Jian Ping Gong
  ACS Omega, 03 Jul. 2023, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author]
  Scientific journal
• Biomimetic Tough Gels with Weak Bonds Unravel the Role of Collagen from Fibril to Suprafibrillar Self‐Assembly
  Milena Lama; Biravena Raveendranathan; Julie Brun; Francisco M. Fernandes; Cédric Boissière; Nadine Nassif; Alba Marcellan
  Macromolecular Bioscience, 21, 6, 2000435, 2000435, Wiley, 21 Apr. 2021, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author]
  Scientific journal
• Origin of transparency in scattering biomimetic collagen materials
  Chrystelle Salameh; Flore Salviat; Elora Bessot; Miléna Lama; Jean-Marie Chassot; Elodie Moulongui; Yan Wang; Marc Robin; Arnaud Bardouil; Mohamed Selmane; Franck Artzner; Alba Marcellan; Clément Sanchez; Marie-Madeleine Giraud-Guille; Marco Faustini; Rémi Carminati; Nadine Nassif
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117, 22, 11947, 11953, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 18 May 2020, [Peer-reviewed]
  Scientific journal, Significance
  
  Disordered materials with heterogeneities at scales ranging from nano- to micrometers usually scatter visible light and become opaque beyond a certain thickness. However, transparent materials are found in nature. The physical origin of transparency in natural and artificial biopolymer materials is still not fully understood. Here, a gap of transparency is found in synthetic fibrillar collagen matrices within a very narrow range of concentration. The transparency results from structural partial order inhibiting light scattering, while preserving mechanical stability, stiffness, and nonlinearity. The potential to produce biomimetic hydrogels with such striking optical properties by self-assembly opens an interesting route in the study of photonic materials and provides new elements in the understanding of the appearance of transparency in natural materials.
• Self‐Assembled Collagen Microparticles by Aerosol as a Versatile Platform for Injectable Anisotropic Materials
  Milena Lama; Francisco M. Fernandes; Alba Marcellan; Juliette Peltzer; Marina Trouillas; Sébastien Banzet; Marion Grosbot; Clément Sanchez; Marie‐Madeleine Giraud‐Guille; Jean‐Jacques Lataillade; Bernard Coulomb; Cédric Boissière; Nadine Nassif
  Small, 16, 4, 1902224, 1902224, Wiley, 27 Dec. 2019, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author]
  Scientific journal
• Structure-properties relationship in dense collagen gels produced by injection of spray-dried collagen
  Milena Lama
  16 Sep. 2019, [Peer-reviewed], [Lead author]
  English, Doctoral thesis, Injection of dense collagen to obtain 3D biomimetic scaffolds in terms of structure and mechanical properties is challenging for regenerative medicine since it would avoid open-surgery. It is well-known that highly concentrated collagen solutions can form liquid crystal mesophases with tissue-like geometries. Thus, it is possible to obtain 3D collagen gels in vitro with better mechanical properties, without widely used chemical crosslinkers that may lead to inflammatory responses. Nevertheless, the injection of highly concentrated collagen solutions is unlikely due to their high viscosity.How to combine biomimetism and injectability of dense collagen gels?To achieve this goal we concentrate acidic collagen solutions by spray-drying, forming dense collagen beads. A simple weighing of the beads determines the concentration of the gels. Mixed with an aqueous solvent, the beads are injected into a mold mimicking a tissue defect. The fibrillogenesis in vitro is induced within the collagen solutions that transform into stiff gels. Electron and polarized light microscopies show organizations resulting from collagen self-assembly at macroscopic length scale depending on the collagen concentration i.e. from 3wt% to 8wt%. Mechanical tests results reveal tissue-like properties strongly linked to collagen fibrils ultrastructure. This study opens perspectives in tissue repair in setting the framework of a library made of biomimetic (anisotropic, dense and stiff) and injectable collagen gels, enabling minimally invasive procedures.

• Mechanical reinforcement of self-assembled photonic hydrogels by small amounts of co-surfactants
  Milena Lama; Jian Ping Gong
  SPSJ 34th Annual Meeting of Research Group on Polymer Gels (Tokyo, Japan), 19 Jan. 2023, English, Oral presentation
• Mechanical reinforcement of lamellar bilayer hydrogels by small amounts of co-surfactants
  Milena Lama; Jian Ping Gong
  10th Conference on Exploring Next-Generation Materials Science and Nanoscience & Workshop on Soft and Nano Materials (Sapporo, Japan), 08 Jan. 2023, English, Oral presentation
• Role of co-surfactants on improving the mechanical response of lamellar photonic hydrogels
  Milena Lama; Jian Ping Gong
  SPSJ 71st Fall Meeting (Sapporo, Japan), 05 Sep. 2022, English, Oral presentation
• Modification of the mechanical response of self-assembled photonic hydrogels by small amounts of co-surfactants
  Milena Lama; Jian Ping Gong
  SPSJ 37th Summer University in Hokkaido (Sapporo, Japan), 15 Aug. 2022, English, Poster presentation
• Modification of the mechanical response of self-assembled photonic hydrogels by small amounts of co-surfactants
  Milena Lama; Jian Ping Gong
  Soft Matter Summer School (Cargese, France), 16 Jul. 2022, English, Poster presentation
• Mechanical properties of biomimetic hydrogels produced by injection of spray-dried collagen
  Milena Lama; Francisco M. Fernandes; Cedric Boissiere; Alba Marcellan; Nadine Nassif
  Multifunctional, Hybrid and Nanomaterials (Sitges, Spain), 12 Mar. 2019, English, Oral presentation
• Mechanical properties of tissue-like hydrogels produced by injection of spray-dried collagen
  Milena Lama; Francisco M. Fernandes; Cedric Boissiere; Nadine Nassif; Alba Marcellan
  Doctoral School Days (Paris, France), 13 Dec. 2018, English, Oral presentation
• From collagen self-assembly to biomimetic materials: Applications in biomineralization and tissue engineering
  Milena Lama; replacing Nadine Nassif
  Design of Soft Green Materials (workshop at MIT) (Cambridge, MA, USA), 15 Nov. 2018, English, Invited oral presentation
  [Invited]
• Mechanical properties of tissue-like hydrogels produced by injection of spray-dried collagen
  Milena Lama; Francisco M. Fernandes; Cedric Boissiere; Nadine Nassif; Alba Marcellan
  Polymer Networks & Gels (Praha, Czech Republic), 18 Jun. 2018, English, Oral presentation
• Mechanical properties of dense collagen scaffolds produced by injection of spray-dried collagen in suspension
  Milena Lama; Francisco M. Fernandes; Cedric Boissiere; Alba Marcellan; Nadine Nassif
  Collagen in all its forms (Lyon, France), 09 Nov. 2017, English, Oral presentation
• Spray-dried collagen for injecting dense collagen scaffolds with tunable mechanical properties
  Milena Lama; Francisco M. Fernandes; Cedric Boissiere; Nadine Nassif; Alba Marcellan
  Soft Matter Days (Gif-sur-Yvette, France), 26 Jun. 2017, English, Poster presentation

• Elucidation of polyurethane degradation via high-throughput experimentation and X-ray scattering
  Apr. 2026 - Mar. 2027
  Milena Lama; Melody M. Morris
  Hokkaido University, University of Massachussets Amherst, Principal investigator
• Structure and properties of photonic hydrogels obtained by hexagonal phase of a nonionic surfactant
  科学研究費助成事業
  Jan. 2021 - Mar. 2023
  LAMA Milena
  日本学術振興会, 特別研究員奨励費, 北海道大学, Principal investigator, 21F20769

• Polyurethane Composite, Method for Producing Polyurethane Composite, and Raw Material Kit
  Patent right, Milena Lama; Tasuku Nakajima; Jian Ping Gong; Tomotaka Matsumoto; Masakazu Kageoka; Takashi Nakano, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.; Hokkaido University
  特願2025-173829, 15 Oct. 2025
• Polymer composite, method for manufacturing polymer composite, and raw material kit
  Patent right, Tomotaka Matsumoto; Masakazu Kageoka; Takashi Nakano; Milena Lama; Tasuku Nakajima; Jian Ping Gong, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.; Hokkaido University
  特願2025-173824, 15 Oct. 2025
• Compositions for use as dentine substitute
  Patent right, Tissiana Bortolotto; I. Krejci; Nadine Nassif; Milena Lama; Camila Bussola Tovani
  28 Sep. 2023
  WO 2023180479A1
  28 Sep. 2023
• Compositions for mineralized tissues repair and regeneration
  Patent right, Nadine Nassif; Milena Lama; Camila Bussola Tovani; Marc Robin, Sorbonne Université
  28 Sep. 2023
  WO 2023180783A1
  28 Sep. 2023