University of Cagliari
Department of Biomedical Sciences
Prof. Paolo Zucca is Associate Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Cagliari.
He has joined the Biochemical Biotechnology research group @UNICA in 2007, working on several biological catalysts with potential industrial applications. Since then, he has co-supervised about two dozens undergraduate students. Throughout his academic career, he has authored over 40 full articles on impacted and peer-reviewed international journals. The global impact of his research is showed by about 1400 citations and a Hirsh-index = 23.
The main research interest of Prof. Paolo Zucca has been centered on biomimetic catalysts emulating ligninolytic peroxidases. He disserted his PhD thesis on this topic in 2011, in addition to publishing 7 research papers on peer-reviewed journals. Furthermore, he is the first author of a review article about biomimetic tools for delignification, confirming his significant contribution to this topic. In 2010 he was awarded a “Young Researcher” grant from Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (POR-FSE 2007-2013) for the project “Biomimetic catalysts for oxidative delignification of industrial wastes”. This grant did provide funding for a 2 years-research on the development of metalloporphines-based catalysts and their application on the oxidation of industrial wastes (such as lignin black liquor, textile dyes, and olive mill wastewater).
His research interests also encompass both fungal and plant polyphenol oxidases, and the characterization of plant antioxidant biochemistry. Along the years, Dr. Paolo Zucca has built a valuable network of research collaborators in several national and international universities, including Prof. William H. Flurkey (Indiana State University, USA), Prof. Giorgio Mastromei & Dr. Brunella Perito (University of Florence, Italy), Prof. Emil Dumitriu (Technical University Gh. Asachi, Iasi, Romania), Prof. Claus Jacob (Universitat des Saarlandes), Prof. Yovani Marrero-Ponce (Central University of Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba).
He is co-principal investigator in a project funded by Sardegna Ricerche (POR-FSE 2007-2013, total grant 170k €), about the economic exploitation of olive mill by-products. The research team – led by Prof. Enrico Sanjust – includes Prof. Juan Cegarra Rosique, from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Murcia, Spain.
Since 2010, Prof. Paolo Zucca has held several academic courses of Biochemistry @UNICA in both Medicine and Biology&Pharmacy Faculties.
He acts as an ad hoc reviewer for several international journals.
Last update June 26th 2023