**About the Editors**

**Mauro Pollini** received his master's degree in Materials Engineering in 2003 and his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering in 2008 at the University of Salento, Lecce. His research activities mainly focus on the development of advanced biomaterials with improved chemical–physical and biological properties for application in tissue engineering. Moreover, other research topics include antibacterial treatments on natural and synthetic substrates and textile materials, with improved absorption properties obtained by the introduction of superabsorbent hydrogels. He has been a Lecturer in Cell–Tissue Interactions and a Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering Principles, within the Department of Engineering for Innovation, at the University of Salento. Mauro Pollini has been involved in many national and international research projects, collaborating with centers of excellence and leading companies operating in the biomedical field. He is author of more than 45 scientific papers and 15 patents, and also co-founder and Scientific Director of CareSilk, a company working on silk-based products silk-based products for biomedical and cosmetic applications.

**Federica Paladini** received her master's degree in Materials Engineering in 2007 and her Ph.D. in Materials and Structures Engineering in 2013 at the University of Salento, Lecce. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Department of Engineering for Innovation at the University of Salento. As researcher at the University of Salento, she has been a Lecturer in Cell–Tissue Interaction and Composite and Nanocomposite Materials at the Department of Engineering for Innovation. She is also co-founder, Quality Manager and Director of Production at CareSilk, a start-up company operating in the development of silk-based products for cosmetic and biomedical fields. Her research activities mainly focus on the development of advanced biomaterials with antimicrobial properties and in silk proteins-based biomaterials for application in tissue engineering and in the managemen<sup>t</sup> of critical wounds. Involved as a principal investigator and a researcher in different research projects, she is the author of more than 40 scientific papers and 7 national and international patents.
