ACADEMIC POSITION
- Full Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the School of Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Sport Science, University of Bologna
- Research Coordinator of Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna
EDUCATION
- Degree in Pharmacy from the University of Bologna (1993)
- Specialization in Toxicology from the University of Bologna (1996)
PROFESSIONAL WORK HISTORY
- Student in Specialization in Toxicology (1994-1996)
- Visiting Researcher at the University of Tübingen, Germany (1996).
- Researcher at the Laboratory of Immunology and Genetic of Codivilla Putti Research Institute (IOR), Bologna (1997-1998)
- Researcher at the Department of Pharmacology of University of Bologna (1999-2000)
- Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Bologna (2001-2011)
- Assistant Professor in the Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna (2012-2014)
- Special Visiting Researcher(Program "Science without Borders") at Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil (2015-2017)
- Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the School of Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Sport Science, University of Bologna (since 2014)
TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY at the University of Bologna
- Responsible of the course of “Drugs affecting pulmonary and gastrointestinal function”, Faculty of Pharmacy (2002-2004)
- Responsible of the course of “Safety of cosmetic products”, Faculty of Pharmacy (2002-2006)
- Responsible of the course of “Toxicology”, Faculty of Pharmacy (2004-2005)
- Responsible of the course of “Applied Toxicology”, Faculty of Pharmacy (2005-2010)
- Responsible of the course of “Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy”, Faculty of Pharmacy (2010-2011)
- Responsible of the course of “Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy”, School of Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Sport Science (2012-2014)
- Responsible of the course of “Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy”, School of Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Sport Science (since 2014)
- Responsible of the course of “Toxicology”, School of Medicine and Surgery (since 2017)
- Responsible of the course of “Drugs, environment and quality of life”, School of Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Sport Science (since 2018)
INTERNATIONAL TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY
- Responsible of the course of “ Pharmacology and pharmacotherapy: experimental models for Alzheimer’s disease” in Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil (2015)
- Responsible of the course of “Preclinical Research in Drug Development” in Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil (2016)
- Responsible of the course of “Preclinical experimental models in drug discovery” in Federal University of Goiás, Brazil (since 2018)
- Responsible of the course of “Preclinical experimental models in drug discovery” in Federal University of Goiás, Brazil (since 2019)
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC RESPONSIBILITY
- Member substitute for Italy in the COST Action CA15214: Title "An integrative action for multidisciplinary studies on cellular structural networks", Working Group 4 "Mechanobiological principles of rare and common diseases (since 2016)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- The research philosophy is a multidisciplinary approach to problems of preventive and traslational medicine. Recently, the research is focused on multifunctional therapeutic strategies for neuroprotection. At this regard, the principal task is to identify new preventive strategies for the reduction of risk factors associated to acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. The main contribution is the identification of critical biological targets and the understanding of the events with a pivotal role in age associated neuronal loss and neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases. The search is toward neuroprotective drugs that would prevent the progression of degenerative diseases, through the manipulation of endogenous cellular defense mechanisms by chemical inducers. In the context of neurodegenerative diseases, multipotent agents are exercised against the cascade of events leading to neurodegeneration in neurodegenerative diseases to identify the therapeutic window of activity.
GRANT SUPPORT
- PI, PRIN 2004 - “Molecular mechanisms involved in the control of conformational modifications of proteins forming aggregates as targets of new drugs potentially useful in the treatment of neurodegenerative syndromes” (protocol: 2004054088_002)
- Partecipant, FIRB 2007 - ”Drug research and development(chem-profarma-net). Synthesis, biological and pharmacological characterization of organic molecules, bio-oligomers and natural compounds endowed with antidegenerative (neuro or cardiovascular) antiviral, and anti-infective activity” (Protocol: RBPR05NWWC_002)
- WP Leader, FIRB 2011 - "Neurodegenerative diseases and brain injury: cellular and molecular mechanisms behind cognitive impairment and relation with functional damage in human" (Protocol: RBAP11HSZS)
- PI, Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna di Bologna 2012 - “The Parkinson’s disease: an integrated study between functional genotype and pathological phenotype for the development of new neuroprotective strategies” (Protocol: N°542 bis/2012)
- PI, Program "Science without Borders" 2015 - “The glia-neuron network as a novel target for designed multiple ligands in the treatment of neurodegeneration”, supported by CNPq (303419/2014-8) at Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil
- PI, PRIN 2015 - “Stress in adolescenza: dalle alterazioni cognitive alla suscettibilità per le patologie psichiatriche” (protocol: 2015SKN9YT_003)
MEMBERSHIP IN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
- Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF)
- Italian Society of Toxicology (SITOX)
REVIEWER ACTIVITY
- Reviewer for the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR- PRIN, CIVR)
EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES
- Lead Guest Editor of the Special Issue "Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Diseases: From Oxidative Stress to Neuroprotection", Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, Hindawi (2017)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue "Oxidative Stress in Neurodegenerative Diseases: From Preclinical Studies to Clinical Applications", Journal of Clinical Medicine, MDPI (2019)
- Topic Editor of the Research Topic “Oxidative Stress: How has it been Considered in the Design of New Drug Candidates for Neurodegenerative Diseases?”, Frontiers in Pharmacology, (2019)
RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY (IF 2018, ISI Web of Knowledge)
• Articles With Citation Data: 60 in Scopus.
• Total Impact Factor: 290,314
• Mean Impact factor: 4,839
• Sum of the Times Cited: 2201
• H index: 24