Santamaria Rita

Biography

Graduated with praise in Biological Sciences in 1980 at the University of Naples Specialist in Clinical Chemistry Analysis, obtained in 1984 at the University of Camerino Holder of a professional training grant from the National Research Council from 1982 to 1990 Technical Officer at the University of Naples "Federico II" from 1990 to 2001 Associate Professor of Biochemistry (SSD BIO10) at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Naples "Federico II" since 2001 In March 2017 he obtained the National Scientific Ability for First Division Professor for the Scientific-Disciplinary Sector (BIO10 - Biochemistry), competition sector (05 / E1 - Biochemistry General ).

Research Interest

The research activity of Prof. Santamaria relates to topics of biochemistry and cellular biology and is mainly carried out in the biomedical area. In particular, the latest research lines have been developed on the following points: 1) Study of the iron metabolism regulation in different physiopathological conditions in in vitro and in vivo experimental models and evaluation of oxidative damage induced by this metal. In particular: - Iron metabolism in ischemic pathologies and implications for cell survival - Iron homeostasis in virus-infected mammalian cells and implications for virus / host interaction - Effect of environmental contaminants such as dioxin and bisphenols on metabolism of iron - Metabolism of iron in tumor cells and relationship with drug response and chemotherapy 2) Pre-clinical development of transition metal nanohors as anti-proliferative agents for anti-tumor therapy. In particular, the study deals with Ruthenium nanosystems, the mechanism of action and the main biological targets 3) Pre-clinical development of new molecules as anti-proliferative agents for cancer therapy 4) Provision of in vitro experimental models for the evaluation and characterization of the bioactivity of new compounds 5) Design of in vivo experimental models for the study of the molecular mechanisms underlying some human pathologies and the evaluation of the biological effects of therapeutic agents. The research activity is documented by numerous publications on international indexed scientific journals. In addition, Prof. Santamaria has participated in the development of 2 international patents and 1 national patent.