Faculty Members

Full Professor - CHEM-07/A Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Research topics: Design, synthesis, and biological investigation of bifunctional small molecules (e.g., PROTACS and RIBOTACs) in the neurodegenerative and neglected tropical disease therapeutic areas.

Associate Professor - BIOS-09/A Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology

Research topics: Development of advanced 3D osteosarcoma models designed as platforms for drug testing and as tools to study the biological mechanisms driving osteosarcoma progression. The research integrates cellular and molecular methodologies with high-brilliance synchrotron-based techniques (including X-ray fluorescence microscopy, nano-tomography, SAXS/WAXS diffraction, XANES, FTIR, and O-PTIR) to achieve a comprehensive characterization of the tumor microenvironment and to facilitate the discovery of novel therapeutic strategies.

Associate Professor CHEM-08/A Technology, Socioeconomics and Regulation of Medicinal and Health and Wellbeing Products

Research topics: Drug delivery/targeting and nanomedicine, microparticulate system for inhalation and tissue engineering; development of lipid nanoparticles for targeted brain drug delivery; pancreatic cell encapsulation and transplantation for the treatment of diabetes mellitus; development of inhalable dry powders for the treatment of resistant tuberculosis.

Associate Professor - CHEM-07/A Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Research topics: Design and synthesis of bioactive small molecules for the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease, and for infectious diseases, including neglected tropical diseases.

Full Professor - CHEM-07/A Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Research topics: Advanced analytical strategies for drug discovery, with a focus on high-performance and miniaturized methodologies; Real-time investigation of biorecognition phenomena using optical biosensor (surface plasmon resonance technology);  In vitro mechanistic studies on synthetic and natural compounds targeting enzymes involved in neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, and protein aggregation (tau and β-amyloid); Development of immobilized enzyme reactors (IMERs) to enhance automation, reproducibility, and throughput in drug screening and omics workflows. 

Associate Professor - MVET-01/B Veterinary Physiology

Research topics: Vascular biology, in vitro and ex vivo animal models to study the molecular basis of physiology and cellular stress; genomics and proteomics of reproductive functions; quality assurance in higher education.

Associate Professor - CHEM-07/A Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Research topics: Pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis by means of separation techniques at microanalytical scale (LC, GC, and Capillary Electrophoresis) also hyphenated to mass spectrometry; development of paper-based microfluidic devices for rapid and portable analysis is also a core area of investigation; applications focus on biologically relevant molecules, with emphasis on chiral compounds and therapeutic proteins (e.g., mAbs).

Full Professor - BIOS-11/A Pharmacology

Research topics: Identification of new preventive strategies for reduction of risk factors associated to chronic degenerative diseases, such as cancer and neurodegeneration; toxic stress response in human cell lines by drugs and xenobiotics in the environment and characterization of the exposome to study the impact of environmental determinants on human health (One Health approach); identification of novel molecular pharmacological targets and genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of drug response in chronic degenerative diseases.

Full Professor - BIOS-09/A Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology

Research topics: Development of in vivo NMR spectroscopy in basic research and in diagnostic applications; development of novel approaches to simplify the treatment of the thermodynamics of complex systems; study of magnesium homeostasis in cell culture combining synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and the use of a novel class of fluorescent chemo-sensors (DCHQs).

Full Professor - BIOS-07/A Biochemistry

Research topics: Development of systems based on Neural Networks, Hidden Markov Models and Support Vector Machines for the prediction of functional and structural protein features; prediction of protein secondary structure, membrane protein topology and topography, cysteine bonding states, protein subcellular localization; study and simulation of the protein folding process; structural modelling of various proteins by integrating computational and experimental data.

Full Professor - CHEM-07/A Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Research topics: Design and synthesis of new multipotent ligands to study cancer and neurodegenerative disorders; polyamines as substrates and inhibitors of amino-oxidase enzymes; covalent ligands as molecular probes for the investigation of inflammatory processes.

Full Professor - CHEM-08/A Technology, Socioeconomics and Regulation of Medicinal and Health and Wellbeing Products

Research topics: Development of drug delivery systems; Formulation design and particle-engineering technology for lipid microparticles production; development and optimization of technological processes for manufacturing of solid dosage forms; development of pediatric formulations; application of NaDES as green innovative vehicles for oral drug administration; development of snail slime based polymeric films.

Associate Professor - CHEM-07/A Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Research topics: Design and synthesis of small molecules capable of modulating molecular targets involved in cancer development. The rational design of new compounds is conducted in collaboration with the Computational Pharmaceutical Chemistry group (Prof. Falchi, Prof. M. Masetti, and Prof. A. Cavalli). The applied synthetic strategies include not only traditional organic chemistry methods but also combinatorial approaches, operating in parallel to generate small libraries of drug-like molecules subsequently characterized using spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques. In addition, microwave-assisted synthesis is employed in accordance with the principles of sustainable chemistry.

Full Professor - BIOS-11/A Pharmacology

Research topics: Study of opioid peptides and endocannabinoids functions at CNS level; their modulation after pharmacological manipulations, in inflammation and stressful conditions; gene expression and epigenetic regulation after chronic exposure to addictive drugs or in chronic pain conditions.

Associate Professor - BIOS-07/A Biochemistry

Research topics: Study of mitochondrial bioenergetics, specifically, mitochondrial electron transfer chain, reactive oxygen species production, role and biosynthesis of Coenzyme Q10, and the involvement of mitochondria in health and different diseases, such as a familial form of thyroid cancer with oncocytic features, a recessive form of spastic paraplegia, and a recessive form of chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. 

Associate Professor - BIOS-11/A Pharmacology

Research topics: Pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic, and toxicological evaluation of xenobiotics (drugs, environmental contaminants, natural compounds) in various animal models (including pathological ones); in vivo biomarkers of effect for assessing the modulation of drug-metabolizing enzymes by xenobiotics, using specific probes and applying spectrophotometric, spectrofluorimetric, chromatographic (HPLC, LC/MS), and immunochemical (Western blot, Northern blot) techniques; in vivo detection of free radicals using spin-scavenger probes and EPR spectroscopy.

Associate Professor- BIOS-11/A Pharmacology

Research topics: Neuropsychopharmacology and drug discovery, in particular on major depressive disorder, Alzheimer's disease, nicotine addiction.

Associate Professor - CHEM-08/A Technology, Socioeconomics and Regulation of Medicinal and Health and Wellbeing Products

Reserach topics: development of non-conventional dosage forms such as micro/nanoparticles and liposomes, obtained by suitable productive processes (spray drying, ionic gelation, and thin film hydration), for the delivery of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and natural molecules for pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic fields; development of new multifunctional wound dressings based on cellulose fibers (Spanish Broom, hemp and flax) as alternative to cotton; bio-based materials for edible food packaging.

Associate Professor - CHEM-07/A Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Research topics:  application of computational approaches for the design and discovery of biologically active molecules and elucidation of structure-function relationships in pharmaceutically relevant systems.

Associate Professor -CHEM-07/C Chemistry and Biotechnology of Fermentation

Research topics: Compositional and functional profiling of the human microbiome and the exploration of its impact on health; next-generation sequencing technologies, including 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and omics approaches, i.e., metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and, more recently, culturomics, as well as microbiome-host interaction studies in ex vivo models.

 Associate Professor - MEDS-03/A Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology

Research topics: Evaluation of the antiviral and antimicrobial properties of inorganic, polymeric and composite materials, synthetic and plant-based formulations; investigation of mechanisms of action underlying biologically active compounds and formulations; study of biofilm formation, structure, and strategies for biofilm prevention or disruption.