Experience

Philochem AG

• Switzerland
• Research Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Postdoctoral Research Scientist

  • Nov 2022 - Present

  My project is based on the development of phage-display libraries to discover new potential candidates for targeted cancer therapy. My project is based on the development of phage-display libraries to discover new potential candidates for targeted cancer therapy.



Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori, Pavia

• Italy
• Higher Education
• 100 - 200 Employee

• PhD student

  • Oct 2019 - Mar 2023

  In the laboratory of Prof.Dr. Andrea Mattevi I have applied structural biology, enzymology and biophysics to investigate in detail several enzymes, exploring their mechanism and catalytic properties. In particular, my research work was mainly focused on two projects: 1. SMARTBOX (European Union Horizon 2020 program; https://www.smartbox-project.eu) SMARTBOX (acronymous of Selective Modification of Aromatics Through Biocatalytic Oxidations) is a project with the aim of developing robust and efficient catalysts to convert aromatic building blocks deriving from lignin degradation into industrially-relevant products. The main aim of my research activity was to characterise biochemically and structurally flavin-dependent enzymes using protein engineering as a tool to boost their activity, stability and selectivity. This work was framed in the context of a strong collaboration between our laboratory in Pavia, other universities (mainly Groningen and ITQB Lisbon) and several companies across Europe. This cooperation between academia and industry was of fundamental importance to test our catalysts in industrial processes, thus valorising biomass for the production of added-value products. 2. Exploring the complexity behind Coenzyme Q biosynthesis The second branch of my research work was focused on the in vitro reconstitution of the metabolon responsible of the synthesis of the most hydrophobic molecule in biology, Coenzyme Q10. We employed an innovative evolution-engineering approach rooted by ancestral sequence reconstruction, in addition to spectrophotometric assays and analytical techniques to monitor CoQ biosynthesis. These allowed us to show activity for all ancestral COQ proteins, reveal the enzymes responsible for the uncharacterized biosynthetic steps, and amalgamate the entire biosynthetic pathway in vitro. Show less



CERN

• Switzerland
• Research Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Internship Trainee

  • Oct 2018 - Apr 2019

  During my internship, I worked in the EP-DT-DI Gas service team under the supervision of Dr. R. Guida. The EP-DT-DI Gas service team is responsible for the maintenance, operation and upgrade of the gas systems for experiments at the LHC. The goal of my master thesis project was to investigate the formation of impurities in the gas mixtures of muon-detectors of ALICE experiment. Due to a large detector volume and the use of a relatively expensive fluorinated-based gas mixture, the ALICE muon system is operated in closed-loop gas system with 70% recirculation rate. This lead to the accumulation of numerous impurities, especially when detectors are operated under radiation. Through GC-MS and electrochemical measurements (Ion selective electrode), routine analyses were carried out to both monitor the gas composition and to determine the presence and the mechanism of formation of hydrofluoric acid and other fluorinated derivatives. This understanding was important for preventing ageing effects and any degradation that can affect the detector long term operation. Show less