Stefano Piotto

I’m Stefano Piotto, a Full Professor at the University of Salerno in the Department of Pharmacy, where I teach General Chemistry and Biomaterials. My academic journey started with a Master’s in Chemistry from the University of Rome, followed by a Ph.D. in Material Sciences from ETH Zurich. My research there focused on solid-state chemistry, and later, I explored lipid membranes as potential drug delivery systems, a project I continued with a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

I’m also deeply involved in the startup world. In 2019, I co-founded SoftMining Srl, a company that merges artificial intelligence and computational drug design to speed up the drug discovery process. Before that, in 2016, I co-founded SmartVase Srl, which works with biomaterials. SmartVase was recognized as Italy's Best Innovative Company in 2016, receiving the prestigious “Premio dei Premi” from the Italian President.

Throughout my career, I’ve focused on bridging the gap between pure science and technology transfer, turning scientific research into real-world applications. My work is about using the knowledge we generate in the lab to solve pressing challenges in both the pharmaceutical and biomaterials industries.