Personale docente

Personal Data and Education

• Born on August 27^th, 1959, in Parma (Italy). Italian citizen.
• Student worker, she graduated with full marks and honours at the University of Parma, first in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1987 and then in Pharmacy in 1989.
• She received her PhD in Biophysics in 1994 at the University of Genova.

Academic Positions and Appointments

1988-1990:        postgraduate fellow at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Parma.

1990-1993:        she attended the Doctorate Course in Biophysics at the University of Genova.

1993-1999:        postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Parma.

1999-2004:        Researcher at the same Institute; since 2000 was Department of Experimental Medicine.

2004-present:   Associate Professor of Biochemistry, same Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Parma; since 2012 was Department of Biomedical, Biotechnological and Translational Sciences. Since 2017 is Department of Medicine and Surgery.

2013-present:   member of the University Centre for International Cooperation (CUCI). Board member during the period February 2014 - 2018.

December 2013-october 2017: Rector Delegate for the “Right to education and student welfare”.

Academic Year 2013-2014: President of the Master in “International health and medicine for cooperation with developing Countries”, co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

April 2014-october 2017: member of the University Project Committee "BRICs. Improving the internationalization process, in terms of didactics and research, in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Next11".

June 2014-2018: board member of ER.GO, the Regional Authority for the right to higher education in Emilia Romagna.

January 2016-december 2021: President of the Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery.

April 2016-present: board member of Cariparma Foundation.

July 2016-present: board member of the “Centre for education and research on organization, quality and sustainability of health systems”. Director of the Centre since October 2019.

November 2017-march 2020: Delegate of the Director of the Department of Medicine and Surgery, for Didactics.

January 2019-present: board member of the “Gender Medicine” project, set up by the University of Parma, the Municipality of Parma, the University Hospital and the USL of Parma.

Academic year 2019-2020–present: President of the Master in "Clinical risk governance and promotion of healthcare safety".

January 2022–present: member of the Quality Assurance Board of the Parma University.

March 2023–present: member of the Project “VIPROM: victim protection in Medicine” (exploiting practical knowledge of medical staff to enhance the multi-professional contact with victims of domestic violence), funded by the European Union's CERV-2022-DAPHNE.

Academic Year 2023-2024-present: President of the Master “Gender-specific medicine: an innovative push to personalized health and a challenge for health systems”.

Fellowships Abroad

1989:               visiting Scientist at the Lab. of NMR and Data Processing, University of Syracuse, N.Y. (U.S.A.).

1997-2001:     she has benefitted in several occasions from the access to the EU Large Scale Facility for NMR in Life Sciences at the University of Frankfurt (Germany), where she improved her knowledge regarding the use of NMR techniques to study proteins structure and dynamics.

2002-2004:     visiting Researcher at the Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance (BMRZ), University of Frankfurt (Germany).

2003-2005:     visiting Researcher at the National Institute of Chemistry, (Lab. of Molecular Modelling and NMR spectroscopy and Lab. of Biotechnology), Ljubljana (Slovenia), within a bilateral project.

2008:               visiting Professor at the "EU Research Infrastructure HWB-NMR", University of Birmingham (UK), for research activity.

2008-2012:     visiting Professor at the "Max Planck Research Unit for Enzymology of Protein Folding", Halle (Germany), for scientific collaboration.

December 2012 - January 2013: mission to the Sahrawi refugee camps in the Algerian desert, to train operators of the Laboratory of medicines production.

January 2014: mission in rural villages in Senegal (Thiès Region), to investigate the region's needs in the pharmaceutical and health field.

December 2014: mission in Myanmar, to understand the region's needs in the health field.

Research Activity

The main research projects focused on the study of the structure-function relationship of biomolecules by means of spectroscopic techniques (circular dichroism, fluorescence, and mainly Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and computational methods.

• Bioactive peptides: (a) Bombesin-like peptides (bombesin, litorin, GRP, dynorphin); (b) opioid peptides (dermorphin and deltorphin); (c) fragments of the AT_1A receptor of the angiotensin II; (d) antigenic peptides derived from the protein B13 of Trypanosoma cruzi; (e) fragments of the human acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor (aFGF); (f) fragments of the a_1B-adrenergic receptor.
• Proteins: (a) Thioredoxin; (b) Major Urinary Protein (MUP); (c) toxins from the venom of snakes and scorpions (crotamine from Crotalus durissus terrificus, alpha-KTx12.1 from the scorpion Tityus serrulatus); (d) transglutaminase; (e) Cellular Retinol-Binding Proteins (CRBP-I and CRBP-II); (f) proteins belonging to the cerato-platanin family, produced by pathogenic fungi.

The most recent publications concern the implementation of training courses and the quality assessment of the Schools of Medicine.

She currently collaborates with a research group on digestive system diseases, with particular reference to the use of non-invasive methods for prevention, diagnosis and monitoring.

Teaching Duties at the University of Parma

Degree courses:

• Medical Chemistry in the single-cycle degree course of Medicine and Surgery (italian language).
• Chemistry in the single-cycle degree course of Medicine and Surgery (english language).
• Chemistry in the single-cycle degree course of Odontoiatry and Dental Prosthesis.
• Structure and Dynamics of Biomolecules in the specialistic degree course of Medical, Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Biotechnologies.
• Biochemistry in the first-degree course of Physioteraphy, until A.Y. 2021-22.
• Molecular and Applied Biology, Biochemistry and Genetics in the first-degree course of Biomedical Laboratory Technicians, until A.Y. 2014-15.
• Biochemistry in the first-degree course of Medical Radiology Technicians, until A.Y. 2016-17.

Degree elective courses:

Building a network of professionals to help and support women victims of violence; Building a network of professionals for the integral reception of people who experienced violence; Incidence and treatment patterns of cardiovascular diseases in childhood in high- and low-income Countries; The prescription of the personalized drug, how and why (galenic preparations); Global Health; Surgical challenges in developing Countries and Countries in conflict; Healthcare safety and clinical risk management: training, context and general principles.

• From the A.Y. 2022-2023, Teacher to Foundation Year students, preparatory course aimed at foreign students who are interested in enrolling in a study course at the University of Parma or at another Italian University.

Postgraduate courses:

• From the A.Y. 2019-2020, Master course in "Governance of clinical risk and promotion of healthcare safety".
• From the A.Y. 2021-2022, Master course in "Thermal Medicine".
• From the A.Y. 2023-2024, Master course in "Gender-specific medicine: an innovative push to personalized health and a challenge for health systems".
• From the A.Y. 2021-2022, Biochemistry in the Medical Specialisation Schools of: "Pathological Anatomy"; “Heart surgery”; "Diseases of the cardiovascular system"; “Clinical pathology and clinical biochemistry”; "Emergency-urgency medicine"; "Maxillofacial Surgery", "Medical Oncology".

Experience in International Cooperation with developing Countries and business trips

• 2011-2014: training coordinator in projects, (co-funded by the Emilia Romagna regional government), aimed at increasing the availability and rational use of essential medicines that are locally produced in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria.
• 2013-2015: she was involved in decentralized cooperation projects, (co-funded by the Emilia Romagna regional government), aimed at increasing economic growth, at improving basic education and primary health-care access in rural villages in Senegal (Thiès region), with special attention to women’s empowerment.
• Business trips to define agreements for educational, scientific and cultural cooperation:

Turkish (Pamukkale University, November 2014); Cuba and Perù (National University of Piura, July 2015); Brasil (University FASIPE at Sinop, August 2016); Tanzania (Mbweni Hospital and Sumbawanga Hospital, January 2014); Camerun (University of Dschang and Universitè des Montagnes at Bangangte, September 2018); Myanmar (University of Medicine 1 at Yangon, January 2019).

Other

She is engaged in volunteering, holding training courses on topics regarding pharmaceutical education, healthcare, welfare and science, in Schools, to members of voluntary Associations and social communities.