Team Members
Alessandro Bertucci
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability
Email: alessandro.bertucci@unipr.it
Office: (+39) 0521906023
Curriculum Vitae (Open pdf)
Google Scholar (click here)
Luca Capelli
PhD Student
Email: luca.capelli@unipr.it
Luca is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Technology at the University of Parma. He is interested in integrating tools and strategies from DNA nanotechnology with biosensor design. In particular, his research focuses on the use of CRISPR-Cas technologies and molecular translators for artificial communication between nucleic acid-based systems and specific proteins, including proteases and transcription factors.
Luca has received funding from AIRC (Italian Association for Cancer Research) through a 2024 Short-Term Fellowship to join Prof. Chunhai Fan’s group at Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a visiting PhD student.
Denise Di Lena
Denise is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Technology jointly between the University of Parma and Ulisse BioMed (www.ulissebiomed.com). Her work focuses on the application of DNA nanotechnology to the development of molecular sensors for the detection of clinically relevant biomarkers. She is especially interested in the design of DNA nanoswitch technologies as optical biosensing platforms in the context of therapeutic drug monitoring. Her PhD scholarship is sponsored by Ulisse BioMed and the Italian Ministry of University and Research.
Elena Spezzani
PhD Student
Email: elena.spezzani@unipr.it
Elena is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Technology at the University of Parma. Her work focuses on the application of DNA nanotechnology to the creation of functional systems for programmable interactions with specific proteins. These include biomolecular sensors leveraging CRISPR-Cas technologies and supramolecular DNA origami platforms.
Dharshini Raghavan
PhD Student
Email: dharshini.raghavan@unipr.it
Dharshini is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Technology jointly between the University of Parma and NanoPhoenix (www.nano-phoenix.com). Her work explores novel formats for sensing devices, from patterned electrochemical arrays to engineered microfluidic chambers, aimed at improving molecular diagnostics and biomolecular assays, including CRISPR-based technologies. Her PhD scholarship is sponsored by NanoPhoenix and the Italian Ministry of University and Research. Dharshini is co-supervised by Prof. Alessandra Zanut at the University of Padua.
Emma Barilli
Postgraduate Researcher
Email: emma.barilli@unipr.it
Emma is a postgraduate researcher working on the design of new classes of functional nanomaterials for cell targeting and smart drug delivery. Her interest lies in optimizing silica-based formulations to accommodate nucleic acid elements, including targeting ligands and functional payloads.
Sofia Marzari
Postgraduate Researcher
Email: sofia.marzari@unipr.it
Sofia is a postgraduate researcher working at the interface of DNA nanotechnology and nanomaterials chemistry. Her focus is on creating novel hybrid systems that combine the programmability of nucleic acid interactions with the chemical and physical properties of nanoscale materials.
Chiara Micucci
Postgraduate Researcher
Email: chiara.micucci@unipr.it
Chiara is a postgraduate researcher focused on advancing CRISPR-Cas-based assays for oncology diagnostics. Her work centers on leveraging DNA nanotechnology to develop innovative strategies for detecting tumor biomarkers using CRISPR-Cas signal amplification.
Caterina BONZI
Postgraduate Researcher
Caterina is a postgraduate researcher developing CRISPR-Cas-based assays for oncology diagnostics. Her research focuses on proximity-based strategies for tumor biomarker detection and the design of novel transduction pathways to amplify CRISPR-Cas signals.
Alumni
Dr. Federica Curti – Postdoc 2021. Now working at Chiesi Farmaceutici.
Dr. Pavlos Nikolaou – Postdoc 2022 – 2023. Now working at Philip Morris International.
Federica Pedrini – Research Fellow 2022-2023. Now Research Fellow at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.