Head
Marco De Vivo, PhD
Education
2000. BA and MSc in Chemistry, Dept of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna
2004. PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry - Dept of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Bologna
2004-2007. Postdoc for 3 years with Prof. M. L. Klein, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
Education
2000. BA and MSc in Chemistry, Dept of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna
2004. PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry - Dept of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Bologna
2004-2007. Postdoc for 3 years with Prof. M. L. Klein, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
Researcher
Pietro Vidossich, PhD (Computational Chemistry)
Email: pietro.vidossich@iit.it
Pietro joined our group in September 2019, from Universidad de los Andes, Bogota. His expertise is in applying ab initio and force field-based molecular dynamics simulations to investigate biological and organometallic systems. Pietro is particularly interested in elucidating enzymatic reactions mechanisms to advance the understanding and application of biocatalysis.
Email: pietro.vidossich@iit.it
Pietro joined our group in September 2019, from Universidad de los Andes, Bogota. His expertise is in applying ab initio and force field-based molecular dynamics simulations to investigate biological and organometallic systems. Pietro is particularly interested in elucidating enzymatic reactions mechanisms to advance the understanding and application of biocatalysis.
Research Associate
Laura Riccardi, PhD (Computational Chemistry)
Email: laura.riccardi@iit.it
Laura joined our group in September 2013, from the Goethe University of Frankfurt - Germany. She is a computational scientist who is mainly focused on molecular dynamics (MD)-based studies of pharmaceutically relevant enzymes involved in lipid signaling. Her research is then bridged to drug design via the identification of promising hit compounds targeting those enzymes. More recently, Laura has also started to work on gold-nanoparticles for chemosensing and catalysis.
Email: laura.riccardi@iit.it
Laura joined our group in September 2013, from the Goethe University of Frankfurt - Germany. She is a computational scientist who is mainly focused on molecular dynamics (MD)-based studies of pharmaceutically relevant enzymes involved in lipid signaling. Her research is then bridged to drug design via the identification of promising hit compounds targeting those enzymes. More recently, Laura has also started to work on gold-nanoparticles for chemosensing and catalysis.
Postdocs
Ilaria Silvestri, PhD (Molecular Structural Biology)
Email: ilaria.silvestri@iit.it
Ilaria joined our group in January 2021 from the University of L'Aquila, where she got her PhD in structural biology. In collaboration with the computational and medicinal chemists of the group, Ilaria is focus in the structural and functional characterization of engineered enzymes and RNA molecules, and in the discovery of anticancer drugs.
Email: ilaria.silvestri@iit.it
Ilaria joined our group in January 2021 from the University of L'Aquila, where she got her PhD in structural biology. In collaboration with the computational and medicinal chemists of the group, Ilaria is focus in the structural and functional characterization of engineered enzymes and RNA molecules, and in the discovery of anticancer drugs.
Isabella Maria Acquistapace, PhD (Molecular Structural Biology)
Email: isabella.acquistapace@iit.it
Isabella joined our group in February 2020, from the University of East Anglia, where she completed an industrial PhD programme with the partner AB Vista. She now collaborates with medicinal and computational chemists of the group for the development of novel drug candidates. Isabella’s work is focused on enzymes. She studies their mechanistic, kinetic and structural properties, and how they can be perturbed by small molecules hits.
Email: isabella.acquistapace@iit.it
Isabella joined our group in February 2020, from the University of East Anglia, where she completed an industrial PhD programme with the partner AB Vista. She now collaborates with medicinal and computational chemists of the group for the development of novel drug candidates. Isabella’s work is focused on enzymes. She studies their mechanistic, kinetic and structural properties, and how they can be perturbed by small molecules hits.
Amos Fumagalli, PhD (Neuroscience)
Email: amos.fumagalli@iit.it
Amos is shared with the lab of our collaborator in neuroscience, Dr. Laura Cancedda, at IIT from October 2019. Combining computational with biochemical techniques he has been investigating the physical interactions between neuronal proteins and their biological consequences. In 2020 he has been awarded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (IF) that will start from 2021.
Email: amos.fumagalli@iit.it
Amos is shared with the lab of our collaborator in neuroscience, Dr. Laura Cancedda, at IIT from October 2019. Combining computational with biochemical techniques he has been investigating the physical interactions between neuronal proteins and their biological consequences. In 2020 he has been awarded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (IF) that will start from 2021.
Corinne Portioli, PhD (Neuroscience)
Email: corinne.portioli@iit.it
Corinne is shared with the lab of our collaborator in neuroscience, Dr. Laura Cancedda, at IIT. Corinne originally joined Dr. Laura Cancedda’s lab in March 2017, from the University of Verona. Since July 2019, Corinne is shared with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow (GF) on the structure-function relationship of a co-transporter that is a promising drug target for neurodevelopmental disorders. This study is also in collaboration with Dr. Ming Zhou’s lab at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, USA).
Email: corinne.portioli@iit.it
Corinne is shared with the lab of our collaborator in neuroscience, Dr. Laura Cancedda, at IIT. Corinne originally joined Dr. Laura Cancedda’s lab in March 2017, from the University of Verona. Since July 2019, Corinne is shared with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow (GF) on the structure-function relationship of a co-transporter that is a promising drug target for neurodevelopmental disorders. This study is also in collaboration with Dr. Ming Zhou’s lab at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, USA).
Marco Borgogno, PhD (Medicinal Chemistry)
Email: marco.borgogno@iit.it
Marco joined our group in Sept 2014 to carry on his undergraduate thesis work and he graduated in Biotechnology at the University of Genoa. In April 2020, Marco received a PhD working in our group, and he now works as a postdoc in order to wrap up the ongoing projects. He works on the design and synthesis of new chemical entities with promising pharmacological effects to treat neurodevelopment disorders.
Email: marco.borgogno@iit.it
Marco joined our group in Sept 2014 to carry on his undergraduate thesis work and he graduated in Biotechnology at the University of Genoa. In April 2020, Marco received a PhD working in our group, and he now works as a postdoc in order to wrap up the ongoing projects. He works on the design and synthesis of new chemical entities with promising pharmacological effects to treat neurodevelopment disorders.
Andrea Menichetti, PhD (Medicinal Chemistry)
Email: andrea.menichetti@iit.it
Andrea joined our group in April 2020. He comes from the University of Pisa where he got his PhD in March 2020 in “Science of drugs and bioactive substances”. He will work on a medicinal chemistry project in close collaboration with computational chemists of our group. The goal of the research project will be the design and synthesis of new small-molecules as prospective anticancer agents, performing a structure-activity relationship study so that one or more lead compounds can be developed.
Email: andrea.menichetti@iit.it
Andrea joined our group in April 2020. He comes from the University of Pisa where he got his PhD in March 2020 in “Science of drugs and bioactive substances”. He will work on a medicinal chemistry project in close collaboration with computational chemists of our group. The goal of the research project will be the design and synthesis of new small-molecules as prospective anticancer agents, performing a structure-activity relationship study so that one or more lead compounds can be developed.
Nicoletta Brindani, PhD (Medicinal Chemistry)
Email: nicoletta.brindani@iit.it
Nicoletta joined our group in February 2018, from the D3-IIT medicinal chemistry group. She is involved in anticancer drug discovery projects. Working in close collaboration with computational chemists in the group, Nicoletta designs and synthesizes new chemical entities with promising anticancer activity, building structure-activity relationships (SARs) centered on starting hits.
Email: nicoletta.brindani@iit.it
Nicoletta joined our group in February 2018, from the D3-IIT medicinal chemistry group. She is involved in anticancer drug discovery projects. Working in close collaboration with computational chemists in the group, Nicoletta designs and synthesizes new chemical entities with promising anticancer activity, building structure-activity relationships (SARs) centered on starting hits.
Ankita Sarkar, PhD (Computational Chemistry)
Email: ankita.sarkar@iit.it
Ankita joined our group in March 2020 after completing her PhD in Physics from the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. During her PhD, Ankita used pH-Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics simulations to study the atomistic mechanisms leading to the diverse pH-dependent conformational changes of SNase mutants with buried ionizable residues. Presently, she works on the optimization and development of cancer-related targeted drugs, in particular topoisomerase enzymes. Ankita is an incoming iCARE 2 fellow, co-funded by the AIRC and EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement.
Email: ankita.sarkar@iit.it
Ankita joined our group in March 2020 after completing her PhD in Physics from the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. During her PhD, Ankita used pH-Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics simulations to study the atomistic mechanisms leading to the diverse pH-dependent conformational changes of SNase mutants with buried ionizable residues. Presently, she works on the optimization and development of cancer-related targeted drugs, in particular topoisomerase enzymes. Ankita is an incoming iCARE 2 fellow, co-funded by the AIRC and EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement.
Adam Pecina, PhD (Computational Chemistry)
Email: adam.pecina@iit.it
Adam joined our group in January 2018 from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague (CZE). Adam uses quantum chemistry and molecular simulations to rationally design potent inhibitors of pharmaceutically relevant biomolecules and to understand mechanisms of action of functionalized nanoparticles. Since June 2019, Adam has received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (project focused on metal-dependent catalysis of nanozymes).
Email: adam.pecina@iit.it
Adam joined our group in January 2018 from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague (CZE). Adam uses quantum chemistry and molecular simulations to rationally design potent inhibitors of pharmaceutically relevant biomolecules and to understand mechanisms of action of functionalized nanoparticles. Since June 2019, Adam has received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (project focused on metal-dependent catalysis of nanozymes).
Inacrist Molina Geronimo, PhD (Computational Chemistry)
Email: inacrist.geronimo@iit.it
Inacrist joined our group in 2019 from the Philippine, after extended experience in research labs in USA and Europe. Inacrist's is currently targeting polymerases for the discovery of new drugs.
Email: inacrist.geronimo@iit.it
Inacrist joined our group in 2019 from the Philippine, after extended experience in research labs in USA and Europe. Inacrist's is currently targeting polymerases for the discovery of new drugs.
PhD students
Michela Nigro (Mol/Struct Biology)
Email: michela.nigro@iit.it
Michela grauated in Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Bologna in March 2019, and she joined our group in October of the same year. She is currently a PhD student, and she will work on the characterization of function and inhibition of an enzyme, which is involved in cancer.
Email: michela.nigro@iit.it
Michela grauated in Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Bologna in March 2019, and she joined our group in October of the same year. She is currently a PhD student, and she will work on the characterization of function and inhibition of an enzyme, which is involved in cancer.
Federico Munafò (Medicinal Chemistry)
Email: federico.munafo@iit.it
Federico graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Pisa. Federico is now a PhD student in our group, and will work on the design and synthesis of new chemical entities with promising pharmacological activity to treat cancer.
Email: federico.munafo@iit.it
Federico graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Pisa. Federico is now a PhD student in our group, and will work on the design and synthesis of new chemical entities with promising pharmacological activity to treat cancer.
Alessandro Andreani (Medicinal Chemistry)
Email: alessandro.andreani@iit.it
Alessandro graduated in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Milan in September 2015; he had worked in the field of APIs manufacturing at Indena S.p.A. in Milan (R&D-Process Chemistry) from February 2016 to October 2020. He has joined the group as a PhD student in November 2020, and he will work on the design and synthesis of small molecules for the targeting of RNA.
Email: alessandro.andreani@iit.it
Alessandro graduated in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Milan in September 2015; he had worked in the field of APIs manufacturing at Indena S.p.A. in Milan (R&D-Process Chemistry) from February 2016 to October 2020. He has joined the group as a PhD student in November 2020, and he will work on the design and synthesis of small molecules for the targeting of RNA.
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Manuel José Ruiz Munevar (Computational Chemistry)
Email: manuel.ruizmuneva@iit.it Manuel joined our group in November 2019 from the Universidad de los Andes – Bogotá, Colombia, where he received his BSc. Microbiology. Manuel is now a PhD student, and he is using MD simulations to investigate ion transporters and their role in neurodevelopmental disorders. |
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Maria Antonietta La Serra (Computational Chemistry)
Email: maria.laserra@iit.it Maria Antonietta received her master's degree in Biotechnology from the University of Calabria. She joined our group in June 2019 as a fellow, and she will do research on drug discovery using computational methods. |
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Elisa Donati (Computational Chemistry)
Email: elisa.donati@iit.it Elisa joined our group in July 2017 from the University of Bologna, where she graduated in chemistry at the G. Ciamician department. Elisa is now PhD student in our group. She uses both MD and QM/MM simulations to investigate nucleic acid processing metalloenzymes that are also target for anticancer drug discovery efforts. |
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Jacopo Manigrasso (Computational Chemistry)
Email: jacopo.manigrasso@iit.it Jacopo joined our group in Sept 2017 from the University of Siena, where he graduated in pharmaceutical chemistry. Jacopo is now PhD student in our group. He applies docking and MD simulations to investigate function and inhibition of selected targets for anticancer drug discovery. |
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Bharath Raghavan (Computational Chemistry)
Email: b.raghavan@fz-juelich.de Bharath is a shared PhD student with the group of Prof. P. Carloni, at the Forschungszentrum (FZJ) in Juelich, Germany. He is part of a joint grant from the by the Helmholtz society. Bharath is focused on computer simulations to study enzymatic catalysis and perform computer-aided drug design. |
Our Group February 2018
Our Group December 2016
Our group, July 2014
Former Members
Sebastián Franco-Ulloa, PhD Student 2017-2020. He is now working as a Consultor at Expert Analytics in Oslo, Norway.
Jose M. (Pepe) Arencibia, Postdoc June 2014-December 2019. Pepe is now working at Captor Therapeutics Inc, Poland.
Matteo Borella, master's student November 2018-March 2019 and fellowship student March 2019-October 2019.
Jissy Kuriappan, Marie Curie postdoc fellow November 2017-October 2019.
Elirosa Minniti, PhD Student 2014-2018.
Jose Antonio (Tony) Ortega, Postdoc February 2013-January 2018. Tony is now a Research Scientist in the group of Dr. Cavalli in IIT.
Vito Genna, PhD Student 2013-2017. He obtained a postdoc position in Prof. Orozco's Lab at the Institute of Biomedical Research-Barcelona.
Giuseppina La Sala, PhD Student 2013-2017. She got a position as Application Scientist at BiKi Technologies. She is now in AstraZeneca.
Giulia Palermo, PhD Student 2010-2013. She obtained a postdoc at EPFL-Lausanne with Prof. U. Rothlisberger. Then, postdoc with Prof. McCammon at UCSD. She is now Ass Prof at UC Riverside.
Marino Convertino, Junior postdoc Oct 2012 -Dec 2013. He obtained a postdoc at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Prof. Dokholyan.
Jose M. (Pepe) Arencibia, Postdoc June 2014-December 2019. Pepe is now working at Captor Therapeutics Inc, Poland.
Matteo Borella, master's student November 2018-March 2019 and fellowship student March 2019-October 2019.
Jissy Kuriappan, Marie Curie postdoc fellow November 2017-October 2019.
Elirosa Minniti, PhD Student 2014-2018.
Jose Antonio (Tony) Ortega, Postdoc February 2013-January 2018. Tony is now a Research Scientist in the group of Dr. Cavalli in IIT.
Vito Genna, PhD Student 2013-2017. He obtained a postdoc position in Prof. Orozco's Lab at the Institute of Biomedical Research-Barcelona.
Giuseppina La Sala, PhD Student 2013-2017. She got a position as Application Scientist at BiKi Technologies. She is now in AstraZeneca.
Giulia Palermo, PhD Student 2010-2013. She obtained a postdoc at EPFL-Lausanne with Prof. U. Rothlisberger. Then, postdoc with Prof. McCammon at UCSD. She is now Ass Prof at UC Riverside.
Marino Convertino, Junior postdoc Oct 2012 -Dec 2013. He obtained a postdoc at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Prof. Dokholyan.
Former Visitors
Andrés Felipe Vásquez Jiménez (Computational Chemsitry), from the Universidad de los Andes - Bogotá, Colombia, group of Prof Andrés González Barrios (May, 2018 - Nov, 2018).
Sebastián Franco-Ulloa (Computational Chemistry), from the Universidad de los Andes - Bogotá, Colombia, group of Prof. Gian Pietro Miscione (Jan, 2016 - Apr, 2016). Sebastian came back for his PhD, in our group.
Sebastián Franco-Ulloa (Computational Chemistry), from the Universidad de los Andes - Bogotá, Colombia, group of Prof. Gian Pietro Miscione (Jan, 2016 - Apr, 2016). Sebastian came back for his PhD, in our group.
