Details

Published: 29 March 2022

Coordinator: Prof.ssa S.Martino  (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Erasmus and Internationalization

Internship activity

International Degrees

Guidance

Learning objectives

Mentoring

Online Course on Laboratory Prevention and Safety

Teaching Organization

Thesis

Details

Published: 27 June 2022

Documents for PhD students

• Annual Report
• Annex 1
• Individual training plan
• PhD Training Plan
• Orders form (Modulo ordini)
• Goods and services purchase request form (Modulo richiesta acquisto beni e servizi)
• Foreign stay authorization (Autorizzazione soggiorni estero)
• Foreign missions insurance
• Mission regulations and documentation

Regulatory references - External links

• Linee guida per l'accreditamento dei dottorati di ricerca
• Decreto ministeriale n.226 del 14/12/2021 - Modalità di accreditamento
• Regolamento di Ateneo per i corsi di dottorato di ricerca 

Details

Published: 20 July 2023

The group of Integrated Physiology and Preclinic took its first steps in October 2015 with the SIR funded project “Novel nanoparticles-based approach to brain cancer therapy”. The group consists of six units that interact synergistically with the aim of research, teaching, third mission and service to companies. The related laboratories are equipped with instruments that have been purchased starting from 2015, in relation to the funded projects, while some are on loan for free use, made available by companies with which the group collaborates through third mission and service activities. The personnel belonging to the group consists of Associate Professor Bernard Fioretti, three post-doc researchers, five PhD students and a variable number of graduate and undergraduate students from the master’s degree courses in biology and biotechnology, Food Economy and Culture (ECOCAL) and Agricultural Food Science and Technology (STAGAL).

Research areas

The areas of interest are the study of ion channels through the patch-clamp technique and functional imaging on the themes of fertility, anti-tumor therapy study and nanomedicine, and for the development of nutraceutical products.

Unit of Electrophysiology. The electrophysiology unit aims to study the electrical activity of ion channels and how they are influenced by interaction with external agents such as molecules and nanoparticles.

Unit of Functional Imaging. The functional imaging unit aims to study the electrical activity of cells using calcium indicators through microscopy techniques.

Unit of Cellular and Molecular Biology. The cellular and molecular biology unit deals with the culture and preparation of cells to be used for electrophysiology and functional imaging studies. It also deals with proteomics and metabolomics as support activities for the interpretation of results obtained from electrophysiology and functional imaging units.

Unit of Nanocompounds. The nanocompounds unit deals with the synthesis of organic molecules and nanoparticles and their conjugation with organic molecules of biomedical interest.

Unit of Food Analytical Chemistry. The analytical chemistry unit performs analysis of nutraceutics and provides support activities to the group research lines, using chromatography techniques, mass spectrometry and UV-Vis spectrophotometry.

Unit of Molecular Dynamics and modeling. The molecular dynamics and modeling unit deals with the development of models for the analysis and processing of data produced by other units. It also deals with the study of chemical properties related to the systems studied by electrophysiology and functional imaging units through classical, quantum-chemical and molecular dynamics techniques.

Staff

Prof. Bernard Fioretti, Associate Professor

Dr. Francesco Ragonese, Post-Doc

Dr. Paola Sabbatini, Post-Doc

Dr. Andrea Biagini, PhD Student

Dr. Elko Gliozheni, PhD Student

Dr. Paola Quellari, PhD Student

Dr. Luana Sallicandro, PhD Student

Funded Projects

2023 - “Valorizzazione del potenziale terapeutico del resveratrolo nella medicina personalizzata mediante combinazione con altri principi attivi in formulazioni innovative – VAPORE”. Funded by Ministero per le Imprese e il Made in Italy (MIMIT). (Local coordinator: Bernard Fioretti)

2023 – “Ruolo della eccitabilità sensoriale ovarica nella fisiopatologia della follicologenesi - The Nova Study” Supported by Ministero per l’Università e la ricerca (MUR) by PRIN 2022 program (202294JF88). (Principal investigator: Bernard Fioretti)

2021-2022 “Studio del rapporto struttura-funzione della proteina E di SARS-CoV-2 per lo sviluppo di agenti terapeutici nel trattamento del Covid-19” Supported by Ministero per l’Università e la ricerca (MUR) by PRIN 2020 program (FISR2020IP_03461). (Principal investigator: Bernard Fioretti)

2021- “Studio dell’impatto delle radiazioni nelle missioni spaziali e del potenziale terapeutico del resveratrolo sulla fisiologia della riproduzione femminile” Supported by Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). Eligible for funding, pending ranking list update. (Principal investigator: Bernard fioretti).

2019 – “Accordo quadro con S&R Farmaceutici S.p.A.” (Third mission activity).

2018-2022 “Exploring novel approaches to NOTCH1 targeting as therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia” Supported by AIRC (External collaborator).

2015-2019 “Novel nanoparticles-based approach to brain cancer therapy” Supported by Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) SIR, Scientific Independence of young Researchers, 2014 (RBSI144EUA) Principal Investigator: Bernard Fioretti.

2015-2019 “Origin of Chiral Discrimination” Supported by Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Univeristà e della Ricerca (MIUR) SIR, Scientific Independence of young Researchers, 2014 (RBSI14U3VF) Principal Investigator: Federico Palazzetti.

 Recent Publications

1. Adamo, F.M.; Silva Barcelos, E.C.; De Falco, F.; Dorillo, E.; Rompietti, C.; Sorcini, D.; Stella, A.; Del Papa, B.; Baldoni, S.; Esposito, A.; Geraci, C.; Arcaleni, R.; Pennetta, C.; Ragonese, F.; Moretti, L.; Mameli, M.; Di Ianni, M.; Rosati, E.; Fioretti, B. and Sportoletti, P.
Therapeutic Targeting Potential of Novel Silver Nanoparticles Coated with Anti-CD20 Antibody against Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Cancers (2023) 15 3618.
DOI: 10.3390/cancers15143618

2. Caglioti, C., Iannitti, R., Ceccarelli, G., Selan, L., Artini, M., Papa, R., Malvasi, A., Gentile, R., Del Bianco, D., Apone, F., Angelini, P., Palazzetti, F. and Fioretti B.
Cranberry/Chondroitin Sulfate Co-precipitate as a New Method for Controlling Urinary Tract Infections, Antibiotics (2023) 12 (6) 1053.
DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12061053

3. Zucchi, A., Claps, F., Pastore, A.L., Perotti, A., Biagini, A., Sallicandro, L., Gentile, R., Caglioti, C., Palazzetti, F., Fioretti, B.
Focus on the Use of Resveratrol in Bladder Cancer, International Journal of Molecular Sciences(2023) 24 (5), art. no. 4562, . Cited 1 time.
DOI: 10.3390/ijms24054562

4. Bachmann, M., Rossa, A., Varanita, T., Fioretti, B., Biasutto, L., Milenkovic, S., Checchetto, V., Peruzzo, R., Ahmad, S.A., Patel, S.H., Lukowski, R., Edwards, M.J., Ceccarelli, M., Gulbins, E., Zoratti, M., Mattarei, A., Szabo, I.
Pharmacological targeting of the mitochondrial calcium-dependent potassium channel KCa3.1 triggers cell death and reduces tumor growth and metastasis in vivo, Cell Death and Disease (2022) 13 (12), art. no. 1055, .
DOI: 10.1038/s41419-022-05463-8

5. Caglioti, C., Monarca, L., Pennetta, C., Ragonese, F., Palazzetti, F., Fioretti, B.
Exploring the potential energy surface of interacting pairs of Ag dimers
AIP Conference Proceedings(2022) 2611, art. no. 020012, .
DOI: 10.1063/5.0119913

6. Battaglia, R., Caponnetto, A., Caringella, A.M., Cortone, A., Ferrara, C., Smirni, S., Iannitti, R., Purrello, M., D’amato, G., Fioretti, B., Di Pietro, C.
Resveratrol Treatment Induces Mito-miRNome Modification in Follicular Fluid from Aged Women with a Poor Prognosis for In Vitro Fertilization Cycles, Antioxidants
(2022) 11 (5), art. no. 1019, .
DOI: 10.3390/antiox11051019

7. Caglioti, C., Palazzetti, F., Monarca, L., Lobello, R., Ceccarini, M.R., Iannitti, R.G., Russo, R., Ragonese, F., Pennetta, C., De Luca, A., Codini, M., Fioretti, B.
LY294002 Inhibits Intermediate Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium (KCa3.1) Current in Human Glioblastoma Cells, Frontiers in Physiology (2022) 12, art. no. 790922, .
DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.790922

8. Ceccarini, M.R., Codini, M., Cataldi, S., Fioretti, B., Brecchia, G., Albi, E., Beccari, T.
Licium Barbarum cultivated in Italy: Chemical characterization and nutritional evaluation, Italian Journal Food of Science (2022) 34 (3), pp. 59-65.
DOI: 10.15586/ijfs.v34i3.2242

9. Caglioti, C., De Luca, A., Pennetta, C., Monarca, L., Ragonese, F., Sabbatini, P., Lago, M.N.F., Lombardi, A., Palazzetti, F., Fioretti, B.
A Theoretical Study on trans-Resveratrol - Cu(I) Complex, Lecture Notes in Computer Sciences (2022) 13382 LNCS, pp. 237-248.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-10592-0_18

10. Gerli, S., Della Morte, C., Ceccobelli, M., Mariani, M., Favilli, A., Leonardi, L., Lanti, A., Iannitti, R.G., Fioretti, B.
Biological and clinical effects of a resveratrol-based multivitamin supplement on intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles: a single-center, randomized controlled trial, Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine (2022) 35 (25), pp. 7640-7648.
DOI: 10.1080/14767058.2021.1958313

11. Ragonese, F., Monarca, L., De Luca, A., Mancinelli, L., Mariani, M., Corbucci, C., Gerli, S., Iannitti, R.G., Leonardi, L., Fioretti, B.
Resveratrol depolarizes the membrane potential in human granulosa cells and promotes mitochondrial biogenesis, Fertility and Sterility (2021) 115 (4), pp. 1063-1073.
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2020.08.016

12. Illiano, E., Trama, F., Zucchi, A., Iannitti, R.G., Fioretti, B., Costantini, E.
Resveratrol‐based multivitamin supplement increases sperm concentration and motility in idiopathic male infertility: A pilot clinical study, Journal of Clinical Medicine (2020) 9 (12), art. no. 4017, pp. 1-10.
DOI: 10.3390/jcm9124017

13. Iannitti, R.G., Floridi, A., Lazzarini, A., Tantucci, A., Russo, R., Ragonese, F., Monarca, L., Caglioti, C., Spogli, R., Leonardi, L., De Angelis, M., Palazzetti, F., Fioretti, B.
Resveratrol Supported on Magnesium DiHydroxide (Resv@MDH) Represents an Oral Formulation of Resveratrol With Better Gastric Absorption and Bioavailability Respect to Pure Resveratrol, Frontiers in Nutrition (2020) 7, art. no. 570047.
DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2020.570047

14. Menchetti, L., Curone, G., Andoni, E., Barbato, O., Troisi, A., Fioretti, B., Polisca, A., Codini, M., Canali, C., Vigo, D., Brecchia, G.
Impact of goji berries (Lycium barbarum) supplementation on the energy homeostasis of rabbit does: Uni‐ and multivariate approach, Animals (2020) 10 (11), art. no. 2000, pp. 1-19.
DOI: 10.3390/ani10112000

15. Cataldi, S., Arcuri, C., Lazzarini, A., Nakashidze, I., Ragonese, F., Fioretti, B., Ferri, I., Conte, C., Codini, M., Beccari, T., Curcio, F., Albi, E.
Effect of 1α,25(OH)2 vitamin D3 in mutant P53 glioblastoma cells: Involvement of neutral sphingomyelinase1, Cancers(2020) 12 (11), art. no. 3163, pp. 1-15.
DOI: 10.3390/cancers12113163

16. Menchetti, L., Brecchia, G., Branciari, R., Barbato, O., Fioretti, B., Codini, M., Bellezza, E., Trabalza-Marinucci, M., Miraglia, D.
The effect of Goji berries (Lycium barbarum) dietary supplementation on rabbit meat quality, Meat Science (2020) 161, art. no. 108018.
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.108018

17. Naureen, Z., Perrone, M., Paolacci, S., Maltese, P.E., Dhuli, K., Kurti, D., Dautaj, A., Miotto, R., Casadei, A., Fioretti, B., Beccari, T., Romeo, F., Bertelli, M.
Genetic test for the personalization of sport training, Acta Biomedica (2020) 91, art. no. e2020012, pp. 1-15.
DOI: 10.23750/abm.v91i13-S.10593

18. Dionigi, L., Ragonese, F., Monarca, L., Covino, S., de Luca, A., Iannitti, R.G., Bastioli, F., Moulas, A.N., Allegretti, M., Fioretti, B.
Focus on the use of resveratrol as an adjuvant in glioblastoma therapy, Current Pharmaceutical Design (2020) 26 (18), pp. 2102-2108.
DOI: 10.2174/1381612826666200401085634

19. Manfroni, G., Ragonese, F., Monarca, L., Astolfi, A., Mancinelli, L., Iannitti, R.G., Bastioli, F., Barreca, M.L., Cecchetti, V., Fioretti, B.
New insights on kca3.1 channel modulation, Current Pharmaceutical Design (2020) 26 (18), pp. 2096-2101.
DOI: 10.2174/1381612826666200316152645

Details

Published: 27 June 2022

The training objectives that the PhD course in Biological and Natural Sciences aims to develop are:

Year 1

• Acquisition of theoretical and experimental knowledge through lectures and laboratory activities.

Year 2

• Development of the research project,
• Participation in conferences,
• Involvement in educational and training activities.

Year 3

• Involvement in educational and training activities,
• Research and preparation of the experimental thesis.

These objectives will also be complemented with teaching and research activities for the thesis, both at the institution and abroad.

PhD Training Plan (download)

 The doctoral student will establish the training plan in agreement with the supervising professor. The training plan (180 credits) consists of:

1. a) Carrying out, under the guidance of a supervisor, an individual research program approved by the PhD board and related to a disciplinary field within those provided by the PhD Course. The research activities carried out by the PhD student must be presented at the end of the three years in at least 3 scientific publications submitted to international indexed journals (ISI-SCOPUS journals), of which at least one already accepted for publication. At least in one paper the PhD student has to be the first author or corresponding author. The research program must include a period abroad at a certified University/research institution lasting at least six months (even non-continuous).
2. b) Engaging in complementary educational and training activities useful to carry out the research activity, in which the PhD student must earn at least 30 credits. These activities include:
3. Attendance (and passing of any final exams) of specific courses (activities A and B, Tables A and B at the end of this file) on topics related to the two curricula of the PhD organized within the framework of the PhD in Biological and Naturalistic Sciences or other equivalent courses organized by other doctoral programs, including those abroad. The number of ECTS credits that can be acquired is indicated next to each course in the table. At the end of the three years the PhD student has to gain at least 12 ECTS belonging to activities A and B.
4. Attendance (and passing of final exams) of courses related to soft skills (Table C, Table at the end of this file). The number of ECTS credits that can be acquired is indicated next to each course on the calendar. At the end of the three years the PhD student has to gain at least 6 ECTS belonging to activities C.
5. Participation to the Summer School organized by the PhD board or to any other national or international schools related to the themes of the two curricula of the PhD (1 ECTS credits per day) or to national (0.5 ECTS credits per day) or international (1 ECTS credits per day) conferences on topics related to the two curricula of the PhD (activity D). At the end of the three years the PhD student has to gain at least 3 ECTS belonging to activities D.
6. Participation to national (0. 5 ECTS per 6 hour) or international (1 ECTS per 6 hour) seminars (activity D) given by members of the PhD board of the PhD topics or by national and international experts on topics related to the two curricula of the PhD course.
7. Scientific dissemination activities (scientific oral presentation personally given by the doctoral student) are recommended (no credits for this activity).
8. The doctoral student can engage in supplementary teaching activities, didattica integrativa (maximum 30 hours each year) or tutoring activities (terza missione o tutoraggio) (maximum 30 hours each year) (no credits for this activity).
9. At the end of the PhD program, the PhD student must have obtained an English language certificate at level C1. Phd students have the opportunity to participate in foreign language courses at the University's Language Center (CLA) and obtain certified assessment in individual language skills.

All training activities organized and/or suggested by the PhD program will be scheduled on the PhD website and communicated to students and PhD board via email. At the following link each student can find useful information about the PhD course in UNIPG https://www.unipg.it/didattica/percorsi-post-laurea/dottorati-di-ricerca

  At the beginning of the PhD course (within the first 4 months), each PhD student presents its Individual training plan containing the research activities he intends to pursue and the educational activities he intends to follow. Before the 10 October of each academic year, the PhD student must submit to the coordinator the Annual Report (first/second) report concerning all the training and research activities carried out; the report, shared with the tutor, consists of a file containing the research results achieved within the framework of the PhD project and a brief report on other training and supplementary teaching/tutoring activities carried out during the same period, along with the report related to the credits obtained in the training activities. The reports will be evaluated by the PhD board, which, after consulting with the PhD student and the tutor regarding progress in thesis development, will, in case of a positive evaluation, allocate the respective credits (up to 30-40 ECTS credits for the annual report on research activities and/or thesis writing). The individual Phd course ends with the writing of the thesis. The thesis, written in English, must contribute to advancing knowledge or methodologies in the chosen field of study.

PhD students have a budget for research activities in Italy and abroad, with an amount not less than 10% of the scholarship. This amount is managed directly by the Department to which the doctoral program belongs. The research budget can be used for reimbursement of expenses incurred for missions or conference registrations, seminars, schools, expenses for thesis preparation, expenses for organizing seminars and conferences with external lecturers, purchase of consumables, services, and maintenance of equipment and instruments. In this context, a small amount of euros per doctoral student can be used for organizing the annual Summer School of the PhD in Biological and Natural Sciences (held every year) and other activities aimed at implementing the individual training plan of the PhD students.