Nunzio CARDULLO

Nunzio Cardullo received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry at the Università degli Studi di Catania the 11 20^th 2009 with 110/110. He proceeded studies in a master’s degree and the 03 30^th 2012 he graduated in Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry at the Università degli Studi di Catania with 110/110 with honours, discussing a thesis on the “Lipoconjucated of resveratrol. Synthesis and characterization of phosphatidyl derivatives”

During his PhD (2013-2016) he collaborated with the Università degli Studi di Catania on several research activities: Natural polyphenols conjugates: synthesis and structure-activity relationships (2014); Spectroscopic and structural characterization of proteasome inhibitors (2015-2016, 10 months). In 2015 he won an Erasmus+ scholarship and spent a period (3 months) at the University of Helsinki in the laboratory of Advanced Organic Chemistry (supervisor: Prof.ssa K. Wähälä). He received the International PhD in Chemical Sciences in Feb the 23^th 2016 defending his dissertation on the “Synthesis of natural-derived polyphenols as potential anticancer agents”; tutor Prof. C. Tringali.

In 2017 he won a scholarship at the Università degli Studi di Catania on “Natural and natural-derived polyphenols for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and agro-food industry”. Since 2018 to 2021 he was a post-doc researcher in organic chemistry and he was involved in national projects such as PRIN 2015 “Top-down and Bottom-up approach in the development of new bioactive chemical entities inspired on natural products scaffolds” (Università degli Sudi di Palermo, STEBICEF Department; supervisor Prof. M. Bruno) and PRIN 2017 “-STOLEN MOLECULES - Stealing natural products from the depot and reselling them as new drug candidates” (Università degli Studi di Catania; Department of Chemical Sciences; supervisor Prof.ssa V. Muccilli).

From January 2022 to December 2023 he was a fixed-term researcher (RTDA) in Organic Chemistry (03/C1, SSD CHEM-05/A) at the Department of Chemical Sciences within the PON Research and Innovation 2014-2020 project.

In June 2022 he gained the National Scientific Qualification for associate professor (II level) in Organic chemistry (sector sector 03/C1 CHEM-05/A).

Since January 2024 he is a Temporary researcher (RTD-B) in Organic Chemistry (SSD CHEM-05/A).

He is the project manager of HYPOGLYCEMIA (HYbrid POlyphenol-based Agents for hyperglycemia management) project, part of the University Research Incentive Plan (PIACERI) 2020/2022, Line of Action 3 - Starting Grant. He is involved in local (NanoBioIn: Development of nanobiopesticides based on mineral clays for agricultural applications - PIACERI 2024-2026); national (PRIN 2022 PNRR: Old but Gold! Identification of molecular platforms for age-related diseases to promote healthy and active aging; PNRR-MCNT1-2023-12377671: Epitranscriptomic landscape and oncotranscriptomic-proteomic signature in cancer patients for improved classification and therapeutic approaches); and international projects (INTERREG NEXT MED 2021-2027: Next-generation nano-biopesticides derived from essential oils for sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture - EO-NBPS).

Collaborations with: Department of Chemistry and Physics, Federal University of Espirito Santo (Vitoria, Espirito Santo, BR), Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Vicosa (Vicosa, Minas Gerais, BR)

The main research areas of interest of Dr. Nunzio Cardullo concern:

1. Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of  bioactive analogues of natural polyphenol  (stilbenoids, lignans and neolignans, isoflavones)

2. Synthesis of hybrid molecules containing natural bioactive compounds scaffold 

3. Study of polyphenols' delivery systems for pharmacological (ophthalmic) applications

4. Extraction of bioactive compounds from Mediterranean plants and spectroscopic characterization by HPLC-UV and NMR

5. Study of the enzymatic inhibition kinetics of natural compounds and synthetic derivatives towards lipase, glucosidase and amylase