International Doctorate in
Structural Biology
PhD students
IL Cycle
Love Elizabeth Afolayan
title: Characterization of protein-ligand and protein-metal interactions in living human cells by NMR spectroscopy
supervisor: Enrico Luchinat
co-supervisors: Lucia Banci and Roberta Pierattelli
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Rebecca Calamandrei
title: Study of interactions between Fusobacterium envelope glycans and proteins belonging to the siglec family by NMR techniques
supervisor: Marco Fragai
co-supervisor: Linda Cerofolini
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Giorgio Di Paco
title: Computational and experimental strategies for the optimization of metal-based drugs in cancer therapy
supervisor: Paola Turano
co-supervisors: Antonio Rosato
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Paula Gonzalez Gomez
title: Development of saccharide analogues for protein functionalization and as ligands for binding studies with carbohydrate binding molecules (CBMs)
supervisor: Cristina Nativi
co-supervisor: Oscar Francesconi
SSD: CHEM-05/A
Chiara La Guidara
title: Development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs by exploiting PROTAC technology to trigger the proteolysis of the main viral protease
supervisor: Antonio Rosato
co-supervisor: Francesca Cantini
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Caterina Lippi
title: Integrated approach to study the druggability of structurally heterogeneous proteins involved in the onset of pathologies of various origins
supervisor: Roberta Pierattelli
co-supervisors: Isabella Felli
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Silvia Oliveti
title: Tracing structure, function, and modulation of intrinsically disordered regions
supervisor: Roberta Pierattelli
co-supervisor: Isabella Felli
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Gabriele Olivieri
title: Structural-functional characterization of biomarkers, antigenic molecules and innovative biomolecules to be used for the prophylaxis and treatment of infectious diseases
supervisor: Simone Ciofi-Baffoni
co-supervisors: Francesca Cantini and Claudia Sala (Toscana Life Sciences)
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Ricardo Pereira
title: Functionalization and labelling of recombinant proteins with sugars for NMR interaction studies
supervisor: Marco Fragai
co-supervisors: Tommaso Martelli (Giotto Biotech) and Francesca Cantini
SSD: CHEM-03/A
Ileana Zeravica
title: Design, Synthesis and Characterization of Human Milk Oligosaccharides analogues as NoV ligands
supervisor: Cristina Nativi
co-supervisors: Marco Fragai and Oscar Francesconi
SSD: CHEM-05/A
XXXIX Cycle
Andrea Baldi
title: Rational design, synthesis and screening of inhibitors in enzyme-mediated diseases
supervisor: Cristina Nativi
co-supervisors: Paola Turano and Stefano Roelens (INSTM - Chemistry Dept.)
SSD: CHIM/06
Jlenia Bindi
title: Interactions and mobility of biomolecules by integrative biophysical and relaxometric methods supervisor: Giacomo Parigi
co-supervisors: Enrico Ravera and Marco Fragai
SSD: CHIM/03
Laura Cheti Baldaccini
title: Synthesis and binding studies of glycosyl constructs to address carbohydrate-mediated diseases
supervisor: Cristina Nativi
co-supervisors: Roberta Pierattelli and Francesco Berti (GSK Vaccines)
SSD: CHIM/06
Cosimo Ciofalo
title: Machine learning and bioinformatics methods for the investigation of metalloproteins
supervisor: Antonio Rosato
co-supervisors: Claudia Andreini and Vincenzo Laveglia
SSD: CHIM/03
Rosanna Cuccaro
title: Expression and characterization of proteins involved in cellular metal transport and redox processes
supervisor: Lucia Banci
co-supervisors: Francesca Camponeschi and Roberta Pierattelli
SSD: CHIM/03
Adam Krzysztof Kubrak
title: Proton relaxivity of paramagnetic proteins and nanoparticles in confined environments
supervisor: Giacomo Parigi
co-supervisors: Marco Fragai and Pedro Sebastiao (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbona)
SSD: CHIM/03
Siyu Lin
title: Expression and NMR Characterization of Labelled P Domains of Emerging NoV
supervisor: Marco Fragai
co-supervisors: Cristina Nativi and Linda Cerofolini
SSD: CHIM/03
Martina Masini
title: Functional and structural characterization of metalloproteins and their interactions
supervisor: Lucia Banci
co-supervisors: Francesca Camponeschi and Francesca Cantini
SSD: CHIM/03
Madalina Ranga
title: Pure proton-exchange based relaxation agent for MRI applications
supervisor: Giacomo Parigi
co-supervisors: Enrico Ravera, Zsolt Baranyai (Bracco Imaging SpA), Sophie Laurent (Université de Mons, Belgio)
SSD: CHIM/03
Bianca Susini
title: Expression and characterization of proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases
supervisor: Marco Fragai
co-supervisors: Enrico Ravera and Linda Cerofolini
SSD: CHIM/03
Giulio Tassini
title: Characterization of antibody-antigen binding interactions aimed to develop an In Vitro Potency Assay for Strep A vaccine
supervisor: Antonio Rosato
co-supervisors: Paola Turano and Francesca Necchi (GSK Vaccines)
SSD: CHIM/03
XXXVIII Cycle
Azzurra Costantino
Title: 19F in-cell NMR to investigate protein-ligand interactions in living human cells
Supervisor: Lucia Banci
co-supervisors: Vito Calderone and Enrico Luchinat
Francesco Currò
Title: Advanced structural and morphological characterization by NMR technologies of different bio-molecules and biotechnological systems
Supervisor: Marco Fragai
co-supervisors: Daniela Stranges (GSK) and Giacomo Parigi
Alessia De Santis
Title: Production of soluble proteins and metallo-proteins, potential pharmacological targets
Supervisor: Francesca Cantini
co-supervisors: Mario Piccioli and Simone Ciofi-Baffoni
Maria Anna Rodella
Title: NMR methods for structural biology: improved experiments and workflows
Supervisor: Roberta Pierattelli
co-supervisors: Rainer Kuemmerle (Bruker) and Isabella Felli
Martina Rosati
Title: Incorporation of natural and non-natural amino acids in human cells for advanced in-cell NMR labeling schemes
Supervisor: Lucia Banci
co-supervisors: Marco Fragai and Enrico Luchinat
Tessa Bolognesi
Title: Preparation and structural and dynamic characterization of biomolecules at the atomic level by means of cutting-edge biophysical and spectroscopic techniques for the study of biological processes at the molecular level
Supervisor: Roberta Pierattelli
co-supervisors: Isabella Felli and Marco Schiavina
XXXVII Cycle
Beatrice Bargagna
Title: Cellular processes for metal cofactors biogenesis and transport
Tutor: Lucia Banci
Letizia Fiorucci
Title: Field dependent effects in paramagnetic systems in theory and experiments
Tutor: Enrico Ravera, Co-tutor: Giacomo Parigi
Valentina Monaci
Title: Optimizing vaccine design for prevention of neonatal sepsis
Tutor: Francesca Micoli (GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health), Co-tutor: Francesca Cantini
Lorenzo Niccoli
Title: Dynamic Nuclear Polarization at variable temperature for high magnetic field solid state NMR spectroscopy applied to the study of advanced materials and biomolecules
Tutor: Moreno Lelli, Co-tutor: Anne Lesage (Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France)
Francesca Sacco
Title: Development of new biophysical methodologies for the characterization of biologics under the Quality by Design paradigm
Tutor: Fabio Baroni (Merck Serono SpA), Co-tutor: Marco Fragai
Giulia Roxana Gheorghita
Title: Expression and biophysical characterization of Siglec proteins
Tutor: Tommaso Martelli (Giotto Biotech), Co-tutor: Marco Fragai
Luis David Padilla Cortés
Title: Biophysical characterization of Siglecs and Siglec-sialoglycans complexes
Tutor: Marco Fragai
Francesco Bruno (PON DM 1061/2021)
Title: Automatized quantitative NMR for industrial applications
Tutor: Enrico Ravera
Naomi Anna Consoli (PON DM 1061/2021)
Title: Study and characterization of innovative materials for hydrogen storage through solid-state NMR, relaxometry and para-hydrogen technique
Tutor: Moreno Lelli