Componenti del gruppo di ricerca

Riccardo Pettinari (PI Unit 1)

Full Professor in General and Inorganic Chemistry at UNICAM. His research focuses on inorganic and organometallic chemistry at the interface with biology, material science and catalysis. The main topics studied include: - synthesis of functional inorganic and organometallic compounds of transition, lanthanide and main group metal ions with anticancer activity and study of their mechanism of action; - synthesis curcuminoid-based metal complexes with anticancer activity. He is author or co-author of 148 peer-reviewed publications, including reviews and book chapters, 2 patents, more than 200 posters and communications in national and international congresses, some also as invited speaker. He possesses an H-index of 39 (Scopus, November 2022) with an average of 5.92 publications per year. In this proposal, he will be mainly involved in the coordination of the project and in the design of new library of curcuminoid ligands to afford lanthanides-based complexes with the ability to give non-linear optical phenomenon (NLO), such as the Two-Photon (2P) absorption.

Corrado Di Nicola (team component Unit 1)

Associate Professor in General and Inorganic Chemistry at UNICAM since 2019. His research interests include: 1) metal complexes with anticancer and antimicrobial activity, 2) CPs, PCPs and MOFs with antimicrobial activity, 3) PCPs and MOFs for application in gas- storage, gas- separation and heterogeneous catalysis, 4) synthesis of luminescent metal complexes for application in sensors devices. He is author or co-author of 83 peer-reviewed publications, including reviews and book chapters, 2 patents, more than 90 posters and communications in national and international congresses. He possesses an H-index of 28 (Scopus, November 2022)with an average of 4,37 publications per year. In this project, he will mainly focus on the development of the best synthesis procedures for new curcumin ligands and the corresponding lanthanides-based coordination complexes.

Valentina Cecarini (team component Unit 1)

Associate Professor in Biochemistry at UNICAM since 2022. Her research includes: 1) Regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis, inflammatory response, oxidation and proteolysis in aging and age-associated disorders using in vitro and in vivo models. 2) Evaluation of the modulatory activity of natural occurring metabolites (for example polyphenols from plant and fruit extracts) towards key enzymes and other protein targets involved in the regulation of intracellular metabolic pathways. 3) Role of the gut-brain axis and gut microbiota modulation in Alzheimer’s disease onset and progression. She is author or co-author of 52 peer-reviewed publications. She possesses an H-index of 24 (Scopus, November 2022) with an average of 3.25 publications per year. In this project, she will be mainly involved in the evaluation of the biological effects of the newly synthesized curcumin-lanthanides

Massimiliano Cuccioloni (team component Unit 1)

Noemi Pagliaricci (team component Unit 1)

PhD student in Inorganic Chemistry at UNICAM since 2020. Her research focuses on the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of Ruthenium complexes with potential applications as anticancer agents. In this project, she will be mainly involved in the synthesis and characterization of curcumin ligands.

Sara Pagliaricci (team component Unit 1)

PhD student in Inorganic Chemistry at UNICAM since 2023. Her research focuses on the synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and catalytic evaluation of novel Rh(III), Ir(III) and Ru(II) complexes in the activation of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons for their oxidative trasformation in functionalized substances with an added value.