PUBLICATIONS
Ghezzi D, Boi M, Sassoni E, Valle F, Giusto E, Boanini E, Baldini N, Cappelletti M, Graziani G. 2023. Customized biofilm device to screen antibiofilm and antibacterial activity of newly developed nanostructured silver and zinc coatings. Journal of Biological Engineering. doi: 10.1186/s13036-023-00326-y.
Ghezzi D*, Sassoni E, Boi M, Montesissa M, Baldini N, Graziani G, Cappelletti M. 2022. Antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of nanostructured copper films prepared by Ionized Jet Deposition. Antibiotics. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics12010055.
Ghezzi D*, Foschi L, Firrincieli A, Hong P, Vergara F, De Waele J, Sauro F, Cappelletti M. 2022. Insights into the microbial life in silica-rich subterranean environments: microbial communities and ecological interactions in an orthoquartzite cave (Imawarì Yeuta, Auyan Tepui, Venezuela). Frontiers in Microbiology. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.930302.
Boi C, Borsetti F, Brugo TM, Cappelletti M, De Angelis MG, Fedi S, Di Giacomo S, Fabiani T, Foli G, Garelli A, Genchi U, Ghezzi D, Gualandi G, Lalli E, Magnani M, Maurizzi A, Mazzi F, Mehrabi N, Minelli M, Montalbano R, Morelli L, Nici S, Onesti R, Paglianti A, Papchenko K, Pappalardo S, Parisi NF, Rapino S, Reggio M, Roselli M, Ruggeri E, Sabatini L, Saracino E, Scarponi GE, Serra L, Signorini V, Storione A, Torsello M, Tugnoli E, Vargiu CM, Vidali G, Violante FS. 2022. One year of surgical mask testing at the University of Bologna labs: Lessons learned from data analysis. Separation and Purification Technology. doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2022.121180.
La Torre V, Rambaldi E, Masi G, Nici S, Ghezzi D, Cappelletti M, Bignozzi MC. 2021. Validation of antibacterial systems for sustainable ceramic tiles. Coatings. doi: 10.3390/coatings11111409.
Jurado V, D’Angeli IM, Martin-Pozas T, Cappelletti M, Ghezzi D, Gonzales-Pimentel JL, Cuezva S, Miller AZ, Fernandez-Cortes A, De Waele J, Sanchez-Moral S, Saiz-Jimenez C. 2021. Dominance of Arcobacter in the white filaments from the thermal sulfidic spring of Fetida Cave (Apulia, southern Italy). Science of The Total Environment. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149465.
Ghezzi D, Sauro F, Columbu A, Carbone C, Hong P, Vergara F, De Waele J, Cappelletti M. 2021. Transition from unclassified Ktedonobacterales to Actinobacteria during amorphous silica precipitation in a quartzite cave environment. Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-83416-5.
Ghezzi D, Filippini M, Cappelletti M, Firrincieli A, Zannoni D, Gargini A, Fedi S. 2021. Molecular characterization of microbial communities in a peat-rich aquifer system contaminated with chlorinated aliphatic compounds. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-12236-3.
Graziani G, Barbaro K, Fadeeva IV, Ghezzi D, Fosca M, Sassoni E, Vadalà G, Cappelletti M, Valle F, Baldini N, Rau JV. 2021. Ionized jet deposition of antimicrobial and stem cell friendly silver-substituted tricalcium phosphate nanocoatings on titanium alloy. Bioactive Materials. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2020.12.019.
D’Angeli IM, Ghezzi D (co-first author), Leuko S, Firrincieli A, Parise M, Fiorucci A, Vigna B, Addesso R, Baldantoni D, Carbone C, Miller AZ, Jurado V, Saiz-Jimenez C, De Waele J, Cappelletti M. 2019. Geomicrobiology of a seawater-influenced active sulfuric acid cave. Plos One. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220706.
Sauro F, Cappelletti M, Ghezzi D, Columbu A, Hong P, Zowawi H, Carbone C, Piccini L, Vergara F, Zannoni D, De Waele J. 2018. Microbial diversity and biosignatures of amorphous silica deposits in orthoquartzite caves. Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35532-y.
Cappelletti M, Ghezzi D, Zannoni D, Capaccioni B, Fedi S. 2016. Diversity of methane-oxidizing bacteria in soils from “Hot Lands of Medolla” (Italy) featured by anomalous high-temperatures and biogenic CO2 emission. Microbes and Environments. doi: 10.1264/jsme2.ME16087.
EDUCATION
Nov 2016 – Oct 2019 PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Bologna. Topics: microbiology of extreme environments, microbial biofilms, microbes-metals and microbes-minerals interactions. Thesis title: Microbial diversity and metabolic potential in caves. Supervisors: Prof. Davide Zannoni, Dr. Martina Cappelletti. Final mark: Excellent.
25th November 2015 Qualification to the profession of Biologist.
2012 – 2015 Master’s degree in Molecular and Industrial Biotechnology, University of Bologna. Thesis title: Characterization of methanotrophic bacteria from soils with high methane concentration. Supervisors: Dr. Martina Cappelletti, Dr. Stefano Fedi. Mark: 110 cum Laude.
2009 – 2012 Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology, University of Bologna. Thesis title: Molecular diagnostics of cftr gene mutations in the neonatal screening. Supervisors: Prof. Annalisa Pession, Dr. Massimo Valentini. Mark: 105/110.
2003 – 2008 High School Diploma in Foreign Languages, High School T. Mamiani, Pesaro. Mark: 100/100.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PROCEEDINGS
Graziani G, Ghezzi D, Pagnotta G, Gualandi C, Cappelletti M, et al. Antimicrobial nanostructured silver coatings and their application for antibacterial electrospun tissues manufacturing. Tissue engineering part a 28, S159-S160. 2022
Ghezzi D, Baldini N, Graziani G, Cappelletti M. Treatment of prosthetic infections: antibacterial metals and their interactions with pathogenic micro-organisms. Orthopaedic Proceedings 104 (SUPP_14), 14-14. 2022
Graziani G, Ghezzi D, Sartori M, Fini M, Perut F, Montesissa M, Boi M, et al. Surface functionalization of orthopaedic prostheses: bioactive, antibacterial and antitumour coatings. Orthopaedic Proceedings 104 (SUPP_14), 15-15. 2022
Ghezzi D, Cappelletti M, Sassoni E, Boi M, Valle F, Baldini N, Graziani G. Antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of silver- and zinc-based nanostructured coatings. Mategra Virtual Symposium "Advancing the interface: biomaterials & regenerative cells", 11 November 2021. Oral presentation.
Ghezzi D, Firrincieli A, Costantini PE, Salvi L, Khalil Z, Capon R, De Waele J, Sauro F, Cappelletti M. Bioprospecting and genome mining of culturable bacteria from a quartzite cave. 18th International Congress of Speleology, Savoie (France) 2022. Oral presentation.
Ghezzi D, Cappelletti M, Miller AZ, De Waele J. The microbiology of moonmilk from Grotta Nera (Parco della Majella, Abruzzo). National Congress of Speleology, Ormea 2022. Oral presentation.
Graziani G, Cappelletti M, Ghezzi D, Costantini P, Fedi S, De Carolis M, Maltarello MC, Baldini N. Nanostructured Silver thin films for biomedical devices: evaluation of biofilm inhibition capability, Orthopaedic Proceedings 103 (SUPP_4), 32-32. 12 March 2021.
Ghezzi D, Cappelletti M, Giusto E, Boi M, Ciapetti G, Baldini N, Graziani G. Proprietà antibatteriche e antibiofilm di coating metallici nanostrutturati. RIT days, 26-27 November 2020. Poster presentation.
Ghezzi D, Sauro F, De Waele J, Cappelletti M. Microbial diversity and metabolic potential in caves. ISME Virtual Microbial Ecology Summit, 11-12 November 2020. Oral presentation.
Ghezzi D. Microbial diversity and metabolic potential in caves. Virtual SIMGBM PhD Day, 10 September 2020. Oral presentation.
Ghezzi D, Costantini PE, Iorio M, Maffioli S, Donadio S, Elbanna A, Khalil Z, Capon R, Monari S, Tassoni A, Sauro F, Cappelletti M. Caves: ancient and unexplored reservoir for antimicrobial compounds discovery. Proceedings 14th GIM Congress, Pisa (Italy), 8-11 September 2019. Poster presentation.
Ghezzi D, Sauro F, Columbu A, Hong P, De Waele J, Zannoni D, Cappelletti M. Biodiversity and metabolic potential in deep quartzitic caves. Proceedings 8th Congress of European Microbiologists (FEMS), Glasgow (Scotland), 7-11 July 2019. Poster presentation.
Ghezzi D, Sauro F, D’Angeli IM, Costantini PE, Columbu A, De Waele J, Zannoni D, Cappelletti M. Cave environments for the discovery of novel microbes and bioactive molecules. Proceedings 33rd SIMGBM Congress, Firenze (Italy), 19-22 June 2019. Poster presentation.
Sauro F, Cappelletti M, Ghezzi D, Columbu A, Hong P, Zowawi H Carbone C, Piccini L, Vergara F, Zannoni D, De Waele J. Biomediated SiO2 mobilization and deposition of amorphous silica speleothems in non-thermal subsurface environments. Proceedings SGI-SIMP Congress, Catania (Italy), 12-14 September 2018. Poster presentation.
Ghezzi D, Sauro F, Zowawi H, Hong P, Cappelletti M, Piccini L, Zannoni D, Vergara F, De Waele J. Microbial diversity featuring the quartz-sandstone cave Imawarì Yeuta in Auyan Tepui (Venezuela). Proceedings 32nd SIMGBM Congress, Palermo (Italy), 17-20 September 2017. Oral presentation.
Sauro F, Columbu A, Ghezzi D, Cappelletti M, Zannoni D, De Waele J. Microorganism-silica mineral interactions in a pristine quartz-sandstone cave environment (Venezuela): first observations. Proceedings SIMP-SGI-SOGEI-AIV Congress, Pisa (Italy), 4-6 September 2017. Poster presentation.
Ghezzi D, Sauro F, Zowawi H, Hong P, Cappelletti M, Zannoni D, Vergara F, De Waele J. Exploring the microbial diversity featuring the geochemical complexity of the quartz-sandstone cave Imawarì Yeuta, Auyan Tepui, Venezuela. Conference Proceeding and Oral Presentation by Dr. Sauro at XVII International Congress of Speleology (ICS), Sydney (Australia), 23-29 July 2017.
Ghezzi D, Fedi S, Capaccioni B, Zannoni D, Cappelletti M. Characterization of methanotrophic microbial community in soils from Terre Calde di Medolla (Italy). Proceedings 31st SIMGBM Congress, Ravenna (Italy), 23-26 September 2015. Poster presentation.
SESSION CHAIR
Chair for the Microbiology session in the National Meeting of Speleology (Ormea, June 2022).
RESEARCH EXPERIENCES
March 2023 – today: Junior assistant professor (RTDa in Microbiology – SSD: BIO/19), Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna.
January 2022 – February 2023: Junior assistant professor (RTDa in Microbiology – SSD: BIO/19), Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino. Research topic: Microbiologically induced corrosion.
January 2020 - December 2021: Postdoctoral Researcher at Nanobiotechnology Laboratory (NABI), Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna. Research topic: Next generation antibacterial nanostructured osseointegrated customized vertebral replacement.
November 2016 – October 2019: PhD Student in the Molecular and Applied Microbiology Laboratory of the University of Bologna (Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology). Research topic: Investigation of biodiversity and metabolic potential of microbes within different cave systems.
February 2018; February 2019; May 2019: Winner of three EuroPlanet Awards with Dr. Martina Cappelletti and Dr. Ilenia D’Angeli. Project topics: Metagenomics analysis of microbial communities from cave samples by using different NGS technologies. Supervised by Prof. Christine Moissl-Eichinger, Medical University of Graz.
September 2017 – November 2017: Visiting PhD Student at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane (Australia). Supervised by Prof. Rob Capon. Research topic: Isolation of Actinobacteria from caves samples and investigation of novel antimicrobial compounds.
November 2016 – December 2016: Visiting PhD Student in the Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, Dept. of Water Desalination and Reuse Centre, KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Thuwal (Saudi Arabia). Supervised by Dr. Peiying Hong. Research topic: MiSeq Illumina sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of microbial communities from cave samples.
April 2014 – March 2015; April 2015 – December 2015: Internship for Master Graduation and Attending Graduate in the Laboratory of Environmental and Applied Microbiology, Dept. of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna. Supervised by Dr. Martina Cappelletti. Research topic: Study and characterization of methane-oxidizing bacteria from soil samples by using cultivation approach, molecular biology techniques and computational analysis methods.
March 2012 – July 2012: Internship for Bachelor Graduation in the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Azienda Ospedaliera Ospedali Riuniti Marche Nord, Pesaro. Supervised by Dr Valentini Massimo. Research topic: Identification of mutations in cftr gene by using molecular biology techniques and computational analysis methods.
OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
March 2020 – June 2020: Microbiologist in a task force for the certification of facemasks during COVID-19 pandemic at St. Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinic (Bologna) – evaluation of Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) and Microbial Cleanliness (Bioburden) – EN 14683:2019.
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
English: Fluent (C1/C2)
French: Good (DELF B2)
German: Intermediate (GOETHE B1)
COURSES
Feb 2018 Winter School in Big Data and Bioinformatics (Bologna) – UNIBO.
Sep 2017 Summer School on Computational Analysis: From Genomic Diversity to Ecosystem Structure (Firenze) – SIMTREA.
THESES CO-SUPERVISOR
Co-supervisor of two master theses in Molecular and Cellular Biology, two master theses in Biodiversity and Evolution, two bachelor theses in Biotechnology, four bachelor theses in Biological Sciences.
TEACHING TUTOR
2022-2023 Microbiology (Bachelor in Biotechnology, UNIURB).
2021-2022 Microbial Biotechnologies (Master in Industrial Biotechnology, UNIBO).
2020-2021 Microbial Biotechnologies (Master in Ind. Biotechnology, UNIBO).
Molecular Biology (Bachelor in Biotechnology, UNIBO).
Microbiology (Bachelor in Biotechnology, UNIBO).
Molecular Biology of the Cell (Bachelor in Genomics, UNIBO).
2019-2020 Microbiology and Molecular Virology (Master in Molecular and Cellular Biology, UNIBO).
Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes with Laboratory (Master in Mol. and Cell. Biol., UNIBO).
Molecular Biology of the Cell (Bachelor in Genomics, UNIBO).
2018-2019 Microbial Biotechnologies (Master in Ind. Biotechnology, UNIBO).
Molecular Biology (Bachelor in Biotechnology, UNIBO).
2017-2018 Microbiology and Molecular Virology (Master in Mol. and Cell. Biol., UNIBO).
Microbial Biotechnologies (Master in Ind. Biotechnology, UNIBO).
2016-2017 Applied Microbiology and Molecular Virology (Master in Ind. Biotechnology, UNIBO).
AWARDS
Co-author of the contribution “Valorizzazione di aculei di ricci di mare come biomateriali innovativi per applicazioni in campo ortopedico” (authors: Triunfo C, Fermani S, Goffredo S, Ghezzi D, Graziani G, Falini G), winner of the Best Poster award of the national conference IORS 2022, Bologna (10-11/06/2022).
Awarded Best PhD Thesis 2020 by the Italian Society for General Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMGBM).
February 2018; February 2019; May 2019: Winner of three EuroPlanet Awards with Prof. Martina Cappelletti and Dr. Ilenia D’Angeli. Project topics: Metagenomics analysis of microbial communities from cave samples by using different NGS technologies. Supervised by Prof. Christine Moissl-Eichinger, Medical University of Graz.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Former Pro Volleyball Player – LegaVolley A3 series at Pallavolo Bologna.
