PhD 2022-2025 - 38th Cycle | Industrial Biotechnologies

The 38^thPhD cycle in Biotechnology has started on Nov 1, 2022 and will end on Oct 31, 2025.

Board of teachers:

Marco Moracci (Coordinator)
Discovery, characterisation and engineering of carbohydrate-active enzymes from hyper(thermophilic) microorganisms for biocatalysis and biotransformation

Members of the Federico II University

Angela Arciello Characterization of antimicrobial peptides to be applied in food and cosmeceutical fields		Eugenio Notomista Identification, production and characterization of Host Defence Peptides (HDP)
Viola Calabrò Natural metabolites from plants and fungi: characterization of their biological activities for nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industry		Giorgia Oliviero Design and synthesis of oligonucleotides and analogues to be used for the obtainment of new biomaterials and the development of bioprobes for theranostics applications (read more)
Rosanna Capparelli Chronic inflammation and infections: role of Formyl peptide receptors and identification of novel natural compounds of pharmaceutical interest		Ermenegilda Parrilli Biofilm of Antarctic marine Bacteria as a tool for biotechnologies
Gabriella Fiorentino (Hyper)Thermophiles-inspired molecular strategies to address environmental pollution with biotechnological approaches		Francesco Pennacchio Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the impact of environmental stress factors on honey bee immunocompetence, to set the ground for developing targeted biotechnologies to reduce colony losses
C. Valeria L. Giosafatto Production and characterization of environmentally friendly bioplastiscs from renewable sources		Cinzia Pezzella Integrated biorefineries for the valorization of wastes and designing of microbial cell-factories for their conversion in bio-based products
Rachele Isticato Biotechnological applications of halophilic microbes and their functionalization for sustainable agriculture		Alessandra Piscitelli Isolation, characterization and engineering of fungal self-assembling protein biosurfactants, exploitable in (nano)materials functionalization
Loredana Mariniello Biopolimers from wastes as components of edible films to be applied in the food industry for a sustainable development		Rosa Rao Plant- insect interactions: understanding the molecular events underpinning plant defense responses to insect attacks to develop specific biotechnologies suitable for crop protection
Antonio Marzocchella Development of bioprocesses - see webpage (link) for details		Piero Salatino Development of advanced bioconversion units - see webpage (link) for details
Daria Maria Monti Use of microalgae as a source of high added value molecules. A biorefinery approach will be used and the isolated molecules biologically characterized		Maria Luisa Tutino Exploiting the industrial use of unconventional Antarctic bacteria as host for recombinant production of difficult proteins

Foreign members
Cesar De La Fuente Nunez		Adam Macierzanka
Carlos Fontes		Reynaldo Villalonga Santana
Angharad M. R. Gatehouse		Thierry Tron
Lars Rehmann

Educational Offer reserved to PhD students of the 38th cycle. (Courses provided to PhD students of the 38th cycle over three years)

Notices and communications from teachers will be published on the dedicated page (Notices)

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	Student	Project	Tutor
	Marika Avitabile	Novel active packaging systems obtained from renewable sources	V. C.L. Giosafatto


	Alfonso Cacace	dsRNA production and delivery system based on Lactobacillus engineering: a new tool for controlling the honey bee mite Varroa destructor	F. Pennacchio, A. Becchimanzi


	Antonio Gentile	A natural nutraceutical-based strategy in management and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases	R. Capparelli, G. Tenore, P. Cuomo


	Maria Grazia Nolli	Nucleic Acid based biomaterials	G. Oliviero

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	Ida Paolillo	Bioactivity testing and generation of reporter cell lines for the primary screening of natural compounds for the pharmaceutical and nutri-cosmetics industry	V. Calabrò, M. Masi


	Sara Pisacane	Production of solvents and commodity chemicals via syngas fermentation	P. Salatino, F. Raganati


	Ivana Staiano	Extremophiles - green and eco-friendly compounds producers for Next Generation Industrial Biotechnology	R. Isticato
	*This PhD scholarship is dedicated to the memory of Giulio Regeni*

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-	Positions granted by PNRR
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	Student	Project	Tutor
	Elena Aurino	Valorization of vegetable biomasses	A. Marzocchella


	Elisabetta Borselleca	Design of bioprocesses for waste valorization into functional polyhydroxyalkanoates	C. Pezzella, G. Santagata


	Margherita Castaldo	Identification and assessment of alternative pathways for bioremediation of aromatic polyhalogenated compounds polluted matrices	M. D. Monti, M. M. Monti, P. A. Pedata


	Erika Cavaliere	Development of optical biosensors for the detection of environmental DNA	R. Velotta, R. Capparelli

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	Martina Chiara Criscuolo	Prosystemin: toward a deeper understanding of the molecular role in plant defense and in crop protection	R. Rao, P. Chiaiese, S. M. Monti


	Tina D’Aponte	Development of electrochemical biosensors for the detection of environmental DNA with high sensitivity	R. Velotta, R. Capparelli


	Marikagiusy Di Giacomo	Development of biocatalytic processes for CO₂ capture and utilization	A. Marzocchella, M. E. Russo
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	Sabrina Giordano	Bionanomaterials for biomedical applications: design and synthesis of Peptide Nucleic Acid nanomaterials	G. Oliviero, M. Franzese

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	Oriana Sacco	Identification, characterisation and modification of (hyper)thermophilic carbohydrate active enzymes and of new enzymes for biocatalysis and biotransformation processes	M. Moracci, B. Cobucci Ponzano

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	Giovanna Schiavone	Analysis of plant Mother Tinctures: towards the characterization of new bioactive compounds in herbal extracts	D. M. Monti, M. M. Monti
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-	Marie Curie Schoolarship
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-	Student	Project	Tutor
	Ana Clara Pelliciari Silva	The Microbiome of Shallow-Water Hydrothermal Vents: Metabolic Diversity, Biogeochemistry and Coevolution	D. Giovannelli
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Papers published by students of cycle XXXVIII

Mirpoor SF, Corrado I, Di Girolamo R, Dal Poggetto G, Panzella L, Borselleca E, Pezzella C, Giosafatto CVL.

Manufacture of active multilayer films made of functionalized pectin coated by polyhydroxyalkanoates: A fully renewable approach to active food packaging.

2023, Polymer, Vol. 281: 126136.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2023.126136

Giordano S, Gallo E, Diaferia C, Rosa E, Carrese B, Borbone N, Scognamiglio PL, Franzese M, Oliviero G, Accardo A.

Multicomponent Peptide-Based Hydrogels Containing Chemical Functional Groups as Innovative Platforms for Biotechnological Applications.

2023, Gels, Vol. 9: 903.

https://doi.org/10.3390/gels9110903

D'Aponte T, De Luca M, Saka? N, Schibeci M, Arciello A, Roscetto E, Catania MR, Iannotti V, Velotta R, Della Ventura B.

Rapid detection of Candida albicans in urine by an Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)-based biosensor.

2023, Sens Diagn, Vol. 2: 1597–1604.

https://doi.org/10.1039/d3sd00209h

Zaheer A, D’Aponte T, Babar ZDU, Velotta R, Della Ventura B, Iannotti V.

One-Step Synthesis of Robust 2D Ti₃C₂-MXene/AuNPs Nanocomposite by Electrostatic Self-Assembly for ( Bio) Sensing.

2023, Eng Proc, Vol. 56: 227.

https://doi.org/10.3390/ASEC2023-15227

Paolillo I, Costanzo G, Delicato A, Villano F, Arena C, Calabrò V.

Light Quality Potentiates the Antioxidant Properties of Brassica rapa Microgreen Extracts against Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage in Human Cells.

2023, Antioxidants, Vol. 12: 1895.

https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox12101895

Corrado I, Argenziano R, Borselleca E, Moccia F, Panzella L, Pezzella C.

Cascade disassembling of spent coffee grounds into phenols, lignin and fermentable sugars en route to a green active packaging.

2024, Sep Purif Technol, Vol. 334: 125998.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2023.125998

Gallo E, Diaferia C, Giordano S, Rosa E, Carrese B, Piccialli G, Borbone N, Morelli G, Oliviero G, Accardo A.

Ultrashort Cationic Peptide Fmoc-FFK as Hydrogel Building Block for Potential Biomedical Applications.

2024, Gels, Vol. 10: 12.

https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10010012

Corrado I, Borselleca E, Dal Poggetto G, Staiano I, Alfieri ML, Pezzella C.

Exploitation of cardoon roots inulin for polyhydroxyalkanoate production.

2024, Ind Crops Prod, Vol. 214: 118570.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.118570

Avitabile M, Mirpoor S F, Esposito S, Merola G, Mariniello L, Patanè GT, Barreca D, Giosafatto CVL.

Manufacture of Bioplastics Prepared From Chitosan Functionalized with Callistemon citrinus Extract.

2024, Polym, Vol. 16: 2693.

https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16192693

Avitabile M, Aleksov A, Giosafatto CVL, Restaino OF, Lesjak M,Zivanovic N, Mariniello L, Simin N.

Pectin-Based Bioplastics Functionalized with Polyphenols from Rose Oil Distillation Wastewater Exhibit Antioxidant Activity.

2024, BioMacromol, Vol. 25: 7695-7703.

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00944

PhD 2022-2025 - 38th Cycle

Educational Offer reserved to PhD students of the 38th cycle. (Courses provided to PhD students of the 38th cycle over three years)

Positions granted by PNRR

Marie Curie Schoolarship

Papers published by students of cycle XXXVIII

PhD

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