STAFF
Laboratory of Frog Bioactive Peptides
Bruno casciaro
Assistant Professor (Researcher Type A) of Biochemistry at Sapienza, University of Rome. He received his Master Degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology in 2013 at Sapienza (110/110 cum laude), and his PhD in Biochemistry in 2017 with a thesis entitled “Different approaches to optimize the antimicrobial properties of cationic peptides: substitution by non-coded amino acids and conjugation to nanoparticles”. From 2018 to 2021 he was a Post-Doc at Italian Institute of Technology (CLNS@Sapienza) and in 2021 he was the winner of “Vittorio Erspamer Scientific Award” Dedicated to Young Researcher established by the “Italian Peptides Society”. His current research is focused on the characterization of the biological properties of natural bioactive compounds, in particular antimicrobial peptides and therapeutic proteins, and on different approaches to conjugate them to nanoparticle systems.
FLORIANA CAPPIELLO
Post-Doc since 2018 at Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Biochemical Sciences A. Rossi Fanelli. She received her master degree in Cell Biology in 2014, and obtained her PhD in Biochemistry in 2017 at Sapienza University of Rome with a doctoral thesis entitled “Effects of two L- to D-amino acid substitutions on the structural and functional properties of the antimicrobial peptide esculentin-1a(1-21)”. Her current research interests are focused on the characterization of the biological properties of natural bioactive compounds and their derivatives, such as antimicrobial peptides and peptide-loaded nanoparticles. In particular, her studies are aimed at identifying the potential cytotoxic effect and the immunomodulatory activities of these molecules in mammalian cell models for the development of new therapeutic agents to enhance wound healing, skin regeneration and for the pathology of cystic fibrosis.
Maria Rosa Loffredo
PhD student since 2016 at Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Biochemical Science.
She received her master degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology in 2016 at Sapienza, University of Rome, 110/110 cum laude, and obtained her PhD degree in Biochemistry in 2019 with a doctoral thesis entitled “Insights into the mechanism(s) of action and therapeutic applications of Esculentin-1a-derived antimicrobial peptides”. Her research is focused on the characterization of the mechanism(s) of action of the natural bioactive compounds with antimicrobial activity by fluorescence and spectroscopy assays.
ELENA PUGLISI
PhD student in Biochemistry from 2020 at Sapienza University of Rome, Department of
Biochemical Science.
I obtained my Master’s Degree in Chemistry in 2018, 106/110. My research is based on The
characterization of Frog Skin-derived antimicrobial peptides for the development of new anti-infective
agents with expanding properties.