1980: Degree in Medicinal Chemistry and Technology “Cum Laude”, University of Ferrara

1981: Degree in Pharmacy “Cum Laude”, University of Ferrara.

1986: PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

1986: Organic Chemistry Assistant professor.

1989-1998: Medicinal Chemistry Assistant Professor.

1990: Specialization in Cosmetic Science and Technology.

1998- : Associate Professor in Medicinal Chemistry (CHIM/08): Course of Medicinal and Toxicological Chemistry (8 CFU) for Degree in Pharmacy; and Course of Toxicological Chemistry (7 CFU) for Degree in Toxicological Sciences and Quality Control.

Member Board of the:

PhD Program in Life, Environmental and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Cagliari.

Research Topics:

1) Synthesis and structure / activity relationship studies of opioid peptides and pseudopeptides derived from the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore (2',6'-dimethyl-L-tyrosine - 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid).

The discovery by us of this pharmacophore has resulted in a significant number of derivatives that are still the subject of numerous prestigious international collaborations. Among the most important compounds obtained in this area are definitely worth remembering: UFP-512: H-Dmt-Tic-Asp-Bid (Bid = 1H-benzimidazole-2-yl) (delta selective agonist) the subject of numerous studies on the antidepressant effect, interaction with mu / delta heterodimeric receptors, and electrophysiology of ion fluxes in the ischemic cerebral cortex; UFP-505: H-Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-Bzl (mu agonist / delta antagonist) and MD-1: H-Dmt-Tic-Gly-NH-Ph (mu agonist / delta agonist) are currently being evaluated for their analgesic activity without induction of tolerance and dependence; MZ-2: H-Dmt-Tic-Lys-NH-Bzl (mu antagonist / delta antagonist), peptide able to fight osteoporosis and obesity.

Collaborations ongoing in this field:

a) Borsodi A. Institute of Biochemistry, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HUNGARY).

b) George S. R. Department of Pharmacology; University of Toronto (CANADA).

c) Pineyro G. Department of Pharmacology, University of Montreal (Canada).

d) Neumeyer J. L. McLean Hospital, Harward Medical School (USA).

e) Silvani A. Dipartimento di Chimica Organica e Industriale, Università degli Studi di Milano (ITALY).

f) Tourwé D. Eenheid Organische Chemie; Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BELGIUM).

g) Xia Y. Department of Neurosurgery; University of Texas Medical School at Houston (USA).

h) Dongman C. Yale University School of Medicine (USA)

i) Mosberg H.I. College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan (USA)

2) Non-peptide prokineticin receptor antagonists.

Starting from some patents filed recently, with my research group, we have developed a new method of synthesis that allows easy access to these interesting derivatives. From an initial screening of about 50 compounds, we identified some selective antagonists for the PKR-1 receptor. These new products have generated considerable interest in the national and international scientific communities and are currently the subject of numerous pharmacological studies in various fields which include: inflammatory pain, interaction with TRPV-1 receptor, multiple sclerosis, reproductive disorders, cerebral ischemia, hypopituitarism, Alzheimer and cancer. Our research group has also developed the first prokineticin receptor antagonist containing 18F useful for PET imaging.

Collaborations ongoing in this field:

a) Chen X. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (USA)

b) Di Marzo V. CNR, Napoli (ITALY)

c) Jacobson O. Nuclear Medicine Department, Hadassah/Hebrew University Hospital (ISRAEL)

d) Fainaru O Department of Obstetricts and Gynecology, Illel Yaffe Medical Center, Tecnion, Israel Institute of Technology (ISRAEL)

e) Messeguer A. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Nanotechnology, Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya (SPAIN)

f) Negri L. Dipartimento di Fisiologia e Farmacologia; Università di Roma, La Sapienza (ITALY).

g) Niv M. Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (ISRAEL)

h) Pedotti R. Istituto Neurologico "Carlo Besta" (ITALY).

i) Shen B. Departments of Radiology and Bioengineering, Bio-X Program, Stanford University (USA)

l) Rondard P. Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle - Dépt. de Pharmacologie Moléculaire, Universités de Montpellier I & II (FRANCE)

m) Alfaidy N. Laboratoire BCI–iRTSV, CEA Grenoble (FRANCE)

n)Tóth G. Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HUNGARY)

o) Jae Yeol Lee, College of Sciences, Kyung Hee University (KOREA)

p) Zamponi G. Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary (CANADA)

3) Flavonoids.

Our research group is also involved in synthesis and development of flavonoids endowed with a broad-spectrum of activities. Indeed, considering that generally flavonoids show the same activities of resveratrol, we have established a series of collaborations with various national and international laboratories for the study of these compounds. Until now we showed that our derivatives are able  to bind aryl hydrocarbon receptors  manifesting a series of different effects: agonist, partial agonist and antagonist according to the different substituents. In addition, we have also highlighted their activity as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Currently, this class of compounds are ongoing studies on: the antioxidant effect (some of them showed values 3 times higher than those of Trolox used as a reference), mitochondrial biogenesis, modulation of SIRT1 activity, and the ability to chelate metals associated with the beta-amyloid.

Collaborations ongoing in this field:

a) Supuran C.T. Universita? degli Studi di Firenze, Laboratorio di Chimica Bioinorganica (ITALY)

b) Mellor I.R. School of Biology, University of Nottingham (UK)

c) Manfredini S. Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Ferrara (ITALY)

d) Lim M. H. Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan (USA)

e) Schnellmann R.G. Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina (USA)

f) Sinclair D.A. Glenn Labs for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging, Harvard Medical School, (USA)

4) Photocytotoxic diaryl-pyridines.

Lately, after stressing the antiproliferative activity of some diaryl-pyridines, in view of their structure, we have identified the possibility of obtaining new compounds with photocytotoxic properties after introduction of fluorescent groups. In preliminary studies they showed photocytotoxic activity at submicromolar dosage in different cell lines.

Collaborations ongoing in this field:

a) Viola G. Dipartimento di Pediatria, Università di Padova (ITALY)

b) Vazquez E. Department of Organic Chemistry; University of Santiago de Compostela (SPAIN)

Full Professor National Scientific Abilitation (Year 2012)

GEV member Area 3 - Scienze chimiche VQR 2011-2014.

Finanziamento annuale individuale delle attività base di ricerca (Year 2017)

Prin 2004, Prin 2007, Prin 2010-2011: Local Unit Chief.

Editorial Board for:

Itch and Pain (ISSN 2377-9756)

Organic & Medicinal Chemistry International Journal (ISSN 2474-7610)

Reviewer for the evaluation of projects: PRIN, FIRB, Futuro in Ricerca, Research Foundation - Flanders and Czech Science Foundation.

Reviewer for:

ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters

Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol

Bioconiugate Chemistry

Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy

Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry

Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters

British Journal of Anaesthesia

British Journal of Pharmacology

Chemical Biology & Drug Design

Chemical Reviews

ChemMedChem

Computational Biology and Chemistry

Expert Opinion On Drug Discovery

Expert Opinion On Investigational Drugs

Expert Opinion On Therapeutic Patents

Journal of Immunology and Clinical Research

Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

Journal of Peptide Science

Life Sciences

Medicinal Research Reviews

Molecular Imaging & Biology

Molecules

Organic Letters

PloS One

Tetrahedron Letters

Author or coauthor of about 160 papers on national and international journals.