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Research

What we study

The research group deals with different aspects of instrumental analysis in pharmaceutical sciences, including:

identification of biomarkers and drug targets;
development and application of new analytical approaches in the drug design and development process;
study of molecular drug-target interactions and metabolism of drugs and xenobiotics;
design and development of biologically active molecules;
quality control of drugs, medical devices, nutritional supplements, plant extracts and cosmetics;
isolation, characterisation and in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the biological activity of active ingredients of natural origin;
quantitative analysis of protein, lipid and metabolomic profiles (‘omics’ studies) of complex animal and plant matrices by means of liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques;
study of signal and metabolomic networks based on the integration of ‘omics’ data, using bioinformatics approaches.

Research Areas

Natural active ingredients of pharmaceutical interest

This topic groups together research aimed at the isolation, characterisation, quantitative analysis and evaluation of biological activity in in vitro and in vivo systems of natural active ingredients of pharmaceutical...

Network studies based on ‘omics’ data.

This area of research deals with the study of the mechanism of action of bioactive molecules, which are involved in the prevention of diseases and the maintenance of well-being. The...

ADMET studies

An important aspect in the drug discovery process is the early assessment of the metabolic stability of molecules, with the structural identification of key metabolites. This information will indicate the...

Identification and development of carnosine derivatives detoxifying cytotoxic reactive carbonyl species (RCS)

The research line is aimed at the design (in collaboration with molecular modelling laboratories, Prof. Giulio Vistoli), synthesis (in collaboration with DISFARM’s synthesis laboratories, Proff. Dallanoce and Fumagalli) and development...

Covalent and non-covalent ligand-macromolecule interaction studies by mass spectrometry

This area of research concerns the identification and characterisation of ligands (covalent and non-covalent) of macromolecules, in particular proteins and nucleic acids, by means of diversified proteomics and mass spectrometry...

Protein oxidation and carbonylation processes using proteomics and mass spectrometry techniques

The research topic is aimed at the identification and characterisation of new pharmacological targets and biomarkers of oxidative and carbonyl-based degenerative processes. Research in this area focused on the development...