Roman Lehner, PhD

Roman is the co-founder and scientific project leader of the sail & explore association. He did research on the topic of micro- and nanoplastics and their possible impacts on human health at the Adolphe Merkle Institute in Fribourg, Switzerland. He designed a worldwide first human 3D in vitro intestinal model to assess the possible adverse effects of ingested microplastics such as inflammatory responses. Furthermore, he is performing the world’s first study on the effects on human immune cells when exposed to environmentally relevant microplastics. In addition, he is researching the production of nanoplastic particles that can be used as first marker particles allowing the investigation of possible adverse effects and cellular interactions. In addition, he is leading scientific sailing expeditions on the topic of microplastics for Sail & Explore.

September 2022