SANITAS Project

Explore the Arches- Meet the Researcher

Festival Area: Meet the Researcher

Organisation Description

University of Malta researchers, at the Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition (Faculty of Health Sciences) and at the Metamaterials Unit (Faculty of Science), are working on project SANITAS – infectiouS diseAse preventioN usIng plasma acTivAted solutions – as part of the Maltese national effort to address the emerging challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SANITAS is a COVID-19 R&D project funded by Malta Council for Science and Technology and Malta Enterprise Corporation. The SANITAS core team consists of Prof. Vasilis Valdramidis, Prof. Ruben Gatt, Dr Sholeem Griffin and Dr Jefferson De Oliveira Mallia.

A non-thermal atmospheric plasma reactor

A non-thermal atmospheric plasma reactor is being used to generate plasma-activated solutions as part of the SANITAS project. Plasma discharges induce the formation of antimicrobial species dependent on the carrier gas and solution type, which can be utilised for medical applications. The colourimetric assays confirm and quantify the formation of antimicrobial species such as nitrites and hydrogen peroxide.