Research Interests

Her current research interests involve an interdisciplinary research focused on nano(bio)photonics and plasmonics with emphasis on synthesis, fabrication, characterization and biological applications of gold nanoparticles with different morphologies, and numerous types of tunable metallic nanostructures. She is also interested in the design of multifunctional plasmonic nanoparticles or integrated microfluidic devices in different configurations, in view of biosensing, plasmon-induced photothermal therapy, bioimaging applications, as well as their controlled coupling with various emitters to extend the application fields of the fabricated hybrid plasmonic nanostructures.

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Expertise

• Plasmonic nanomaterials design and synthesis (gold nanotriangles, nanorods, nanobipyramids, nanospheres)
• Biosynthesis and biopolymer-assisted fabrication of functional nanoplatforms
• Surface-enhanced spectroscopies and multimodal optical sensing (SERS, SEIRA, MEF)
  
• Microfluidic and paper-based plasmonic biosensors for point-of-care applications
• Thermoplasmonics and photothermal conversion under laser and LED irradiation (visible–NIR, NIR-II)
• Nanobiophotonics, laser microspectroscopy, and advanced optical microscopy (confocal, dark-field, fluorescence, FLIM)
• Photothermal and photodynamic therapy (PTT/PDT) nanoplatforms and in vitro evaluation

International visibility

• Co-author of 128 ISI papers, from which 66 as a main author/corresponding author. On the whole, Focsan got ~3300 (Scholar) citations and Hirsh index 34 (Scholar)/31 (WoS), proving her international visibility. Moreover, she is also the main author of 2 books, 6 book chapters (Elsevier, Springer, etc..), 3 O.S.I.M patent applications form, 3 OSIM granted and over 80 international conferences presentations - 15 as invited lecturer.
• Furthermore, Focsan received 14 national and international grants, awarded based on competition. As a final point, it is worth mentioning that Monica Focsan has recently received several prestigious research awards including the L’Oreal -UNESCO Fellowship “Women in Science” (2016), Scientific Excellence diploma of National Award “Rada Mihalcea Young Researcher in Science and Engineering” (2016), Scientific Excellence Diploma of Babeș-Bolyai University (2016, 2020, 2023, 2024), Interview for Scientific Excellence UBB (2018) and Constantin Miculescu prize of the Romanian Academy (2018).
• Her international visibility is further highlighted by being featured in the Royal Society of Chemistry initiative “Celebrating Excellence in Research: Women of Materials Science”, as well as in International Women’s Day 2025 initiatives recognizing women in materials science.
  

Most Relevant Publications

1.    D. Stoia, L de Sio, F. Petronella, M. Focsan*, 1.    Recent advances towards point-of-care devices for fungal detection: Emphasizing the role of plasmonic nanomaterials in current and future technologies, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 255, 2024, 116243 (*corresponding author, IF 12.6)

2. A. Campu, I. Muresan, A-M Craciun, A. Vulpoi, S. Cainap, S. Astilean, and M. Focsan*, Innovative, Flexible, and Miniaturized Microfluidic Paper-Based Plasmonic Chip for Efficient Near-Infrared Metal Enhanced Fluorescence Biosensing and Imaging, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c08658 (*corresponding author, IF 9.5).

3.    A. Campu, I. Muresan, M. Potara, D. Lazar, L. Lazar, S. Cainap, D. M. Olinic, D. Maniu, S. Astilean and M. Focsan*, Portable Microfluidic Plasmonic Chip for Fast Real-Time Cardiac Troponin I Biomarker Thermoplasmonic Detection, Journal of Materials Chemistry B (*corresponding author, IF 7).

4.    R. Borlan, O. Soritau, D. Maniu, A. Hada, A. Florea, S. Astilean, M. Focsan*, Albumin Nanoparticles with Tunable Ultraviolet-to-Red Autofluorescence for Label-Free Cell Imaging and Selective Biosensing of Copper Ions, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 242, 2023, 125129  (*corresponding author, IF 8.2, TOP 10 % articles).

5.    R. Borlan, M. Focsan*, M. Perde-Schrepler, O. Soritau, A. Campu, L. Gaina, E. Pall, B. Pop, O. Baldasici, C. Gherman, D. Stoia, D. Maniu, S. Astilean, Antibody Functionalized Theranostic Protein Nanoparticles for Synergistic Deep Red Fluorescence Imaging and Multimodal Therapy of Ovarian Cancer, Biomaterials Science 9, 2021, 6183-6202 (*corresponding author, IF 7.59).

6.    D. Stoia, R. Pop, A. Campu, M. Nistor, S. Astilean, A. Pintea, M. Suciu, D. Rugina, M. Focsan, Hybrid polymeric therapeutic microcarriers for thermoplasmonic-triggered release of resveratrol, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 220, 2022, 112915 (corresponding author, IF 5.8).

6.    M. Focsan, A. Campu, A.M Craciun, M. Potara, C. Leordean, D. Maniu, S. Astilean, A Simple and Efficient Design to Improve the Detection of Biotin-Streptavidin Interaction with Plasmonic Nanobiosensors, Biosensors and Bioelectronics 86 (2016) 728-735 (first-author, IF 7.78).

7.    A. Campu, F. Lerouge, D. Chateau, F. Chaput, P. Baldeck, S. Parola, D. Maniu, A M Craciun, A. Vulpoi, S. Astilean, M. Focsan*, Gold NanoBipyramids Performing as Highly Sensitive Dual-Modal Optical Immunosensors, Analytical Chemistry., 90, 2018, (14), 8567–8575 (*corresponding author, IF 6.350).

8.     M. Focsan, A.M. Gabudean, A. Vulpoi, S. Astilean, Controlling the luminescence of carboxyl-functionalized CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots in solution by binding with gold nanorods, Journal of Physical Chemistry C 118 (2014) 25190-25199 (first-author IF=4.772).