Expertise, Role and Activity
The Department of Chemistry, Life sciences, and Environmental Sustainability (SCVSA) of UNIPR has >130 teaching staff in the fields of Chemistry, Biology and Earth Sciences. Its research activities have been awarded as Department of Excellence in the periods 2018-2022 and 2023-2027. Facilities for chemical synthesis, characterization and biological studies are available within this Department. Amongst the different research lines, the chemistry of nucleic acids and mimics has been applied in the realization of applications in the fields of biomarker diagnostics (i.e. genosensors), new biomaterials, and use of oligonucleotide analogues for therapy.
PI: Alex Manicardi
is Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry with expertise in peptide nucleic acid chemistry, nucleic acid triggered reactions, and alternative DNA secondary structures. In the BactEradiX project, he leads WP3 for the identification of Z-DNA targeting artificial oligonucleotides to be used in the decoration of the nanoplatform (WP4). He is additionally involved in the chemical modification and optimization of artificial oligonucleotide probes showing DNase activity (WP5).
Roberto Corradini
is Full Professor of Organic Chemistry, and Director of the SCVSA department, with expertise in modified peptide nucleic acids, their use in hard- and soft-nanomaterial decoration, and their applications in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this project, he focuses on artificial oligonucleotide design for nanoparticle decoration (WP4) and nanoparticle loading (WP6).
Federica Ferrari
is a Ph.D Student in Chemical Science at the SCVSA department of the University of Parma. She obtained her MSc in Chemistry at the University of Pavia, where her research focused on the design and synthesis of G-quadruplex ligands. Her work now focuses on the synthesis of modified PNA monomers, exploiting protocols with reduced environmental impact. Within the BactEradiX project, she will realize (modified) PNA probes and evaluate their interaction with Z-DNA, in order to identify the optimal probe design (WP3).
Andrea Giuseppe Raiola
is a Ph.D Student in Chemical Science at the SCVSA department of the University of Parma. He holds a MSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Naples, where his research focused on the optimisation of ultrasound-assisted solid-phase synthetic approaches for the synthesis of libraries of cyclic and biologically active peptides (cancer, antibacterial). His work now focuses on the realization of sequence-selective artificial DNases based on PNA probes, and the synthesis of PNA-peptide constructs for the activities of WP5 of the BactEradiX project.
All the Consortium
