About
Paola has a prolonged experience in molecular biology, biochemistry and structural biology applied to protein-targeted drug discovery research.
She received her MSc degree in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies from the University of Trieste in 1991, and earned her PhD in Biochemistry in 1995, from the same University, studying the molecular, biochemical and structural properties of antimicrobial peptides of the innate immunity in mammals. After a short but intense research experience in the group of prof. Martino Bolognesi at the University of Pavia, got fascinated with protein crystallography and became postdoc at the Biozentrum in Basel focusing on structural analysis of PLP-dependent enzymes and bacterial pore forming proteins. In 2001, moved to Milan (ITA) as senior scientist and lab head in the R&D department of a big pharma company (now Nerviano Medical Sciences) working on target-based drug discovery for development of anti-cancer drugs.
Since 2009, is PI in the Structural Biology Lab of Elettra Synchrotron in Trieste, and Head of the Protein Production Facility. Her scientific interest is centered on structural and functional characterization of druggable targets for cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and viral inflammation.
