Prof.ssa

GALLO Mariana

Ricercatore a tempo determinato
Settore scientifico disciplinare
Biochimica
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Office hour
  • Teaching
  • Appointments
  • Research

Current position

Mariana Gallo is a Tenure-Track Researcher at the Biochemistry and Metabolomics Laboratory, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Italy, a position she has held since February 2025. Her disciplinary field is Biochemistry (BIO/10).
Education
Dr. Gallo earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” in 2006, with a dissertation focused on the structural study of transcriptional repressors. Previously, she obtained a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 2002, with a thesis centered on gene therapy approaches, after graduating with honors in Chemistry from the same university in 1996.

Professional experience

Dr. Gallo has extensive research experience in both academic and industrial settings. Before joining the University of Parma, she served as Head of the NMR Group at IRBM Science Park S.p.A., where she coordinated projects of pharmacological interest. Previously, she led the NMR Laboratory at the Fundación Instituto Leloir and worked as an Independent Scientist for CONICET (Argentina), leading projects in structural biology. Her postdoctoral research at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” focused on the application of solution-state NMR spectroscopy to the structural study of proteins and peptides.

Research interests

Dr. Gallo’s current research interests include metabolomics and structural studies of therapeutic peptides. Her previous work has focused on protein–ligand interactions, conformational analysis of peptides and proteins, and NMR-based drug discovery. She actively collaborates with several research groups in Italy and abroad.

Professional affiliations

Dr. Gallo is the author of more than 60 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences, and is a member of several professional societies.

Appointments can be arranged by email (mariana.gallo@unipr.it).

Anno accademico di erogazione: 2025/2026

Anno accademico di erogazione: 2024/2025

Anno accademico di erogazione: 2023/2024

Anno accademico di erogazione: 2022/2023

Anno accademico di erogazione: 2021/2022

Anno accademico di erogazione: 2020/2021

Anno accademico di erogazione: 2019/2020

Professor/Teacher

  • First cycle degree (DM 270) MIDWIFERY A.Y. 2026/2027
  • First cycle degree (DM 270) MIDWIFERY A.Y. 2025/2026
  • First cycle degree (DM 270) MIDWIFERY A.Y. 2024/2025
  • First cycle degree (DM 270) NURSING A.Y. 2023/2024
  • First cycle degree (DM 270) NURSING A.Y. 2022/2023
  • First cycle degree (DM 270) NURSING A.Y. 2021/2022

Lines of research

Dr. Gallo uses NMR spectroscopy in two main research areas: metabolomics and structural studies of antimicrobial peptides. 1. Metabolomics: Her work focuses on the application of metabolomic approaches to different biological models, including saliva, breast cancer cell lines, and the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. In the clinical setting, she investigates the salivary metabolic profile to identify potential biomarkers in oral diseases and systemic diseases with oral manifestations, with the aim of developing non-invasive diagnostic tools for early diagnosis, risk stratification, and monitoring of disease progression. In experimental oncology, she performs metabolic profiling of different breast cancer cell lines to characterise alterations in metabolic pathways associated with distinct tumour subtypes, to elucidate adaptive metabolic mechanisms linked to tumour progression and aggressiveness, and to use metabolomics to investigate the role of transglutaminase 2 (TG2) and to assess the effectiveness of novel inhibitors in revealing metabolic vulnerabilities that can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. In the field of infectious diseases, she studies metabolic adaptation and virulence of Candida albicans under different environmental conditions, with the goal of identifying potential metabolic targets for new antifungal agents and characterising, at the metabolic level, the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides. 2. Structural studies of antimicrobial peptides: She conducts structural studies of antimicrobial peptides using NMR spectroscopy and other biophysical techniques, with particular attention to their conformation and interactions with biological membranes and membrane models, in order to elucidate their mechanisms of action and support the development of new antimicrobial agents.

Publications

Orcid

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0022-4499

Contacts

Office location
Plesso Biotecnologico Integrato
Via Volturno, 39
43125 PARMA