Contact details

Dr. Roman Lehner
SNF SPARK Grant Holder & Principle Investigator
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Bern
Freiestrasse 3, 
CH- 3012 Bern

Co-founder & Scientific Project Leader
Sail & Explore Association
Kramgasse 18
3011 Bern, Switzerland
www.sailandexplore.com

ORCID code: 0000-0002-0478-5445 
Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Roman-Lehner-2

Short biography

Roman Lehner is a Senior Researcher and Principal Investigator at the University of Bern with more than 10 years of experience in micro- and nanoplastic research. In the past years he was the project leader at the Adolphe Merkle Institute, Switzerland for “Micro/Nanoplastics and their possible impact on human health”, a four-year project which involved the production and characterization of micro- and nanoplastics made from materials used in the packaging industry as well as the implementation of a worldwide first-of-its-kind 3D human in vitro intestinal cell culture model for the toxicological evaluation of micro- and nanoplastics. At the same Institute he was also task leader within the European Horizon 2020 Project PATROLS involving the experimental determination of the (long-term) fate of nanomaterials in advanced lung, intestine and liver cell model. As the scientific project leader for the Sail and Explore Association, he is leading global and international scientific expeditions (Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea) and collaborative research projects with various stakeholders, such as universities, international research institutes, government agencies, embassies, NGOs and private organizations. He is also the project leader of “The Blue Network” - Eliminating plastic waste through education, science and innovation. In collaboration with Swissnex Japan and Brazil, launching a novel, global, impact-oriented network. At the University of Bern, he is the Principle Investigator on the project: Engineered, environmentally-relevant nanoplastics for quantification studies in complex cellular and aquatic environments.

List of selected ongoing projects

• “Engineered, environmentally-relevant nanoplastics for quantification studies in complex cellular and aquatic environments)”
  Principal researcher
  Duration: 01-2-2025/01-2-2026

• “Long-term monitoring of submicron-sized microplastics around the Azores archipelago”
  Principal researcher
  Duration: 01-8-2019/01-10-2030