Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology: Drug Discovery, Targeted Protein Degradation and Photopharmacology

I am Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Milan, where my group works at the interface of medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and chemical biology.

We design and synthesise bioactive small molecules and molecular tools for the investigation and modulation of biologically relevant targets. Our current research interests include targeted protein degradation, PROTACs and related induced-proximity approaches, photopharmacology, molecular photoswitches and light-responsive therapeutics, alongside more broadly applicable medicinal chemistry and ligand optimisation strategies.

Expertise we can contribute to collaborative projects includes:

• design and synthesis of bioactive small molecules
• medicinal chemistry and lead optimisation
• ligand and chemical-probe development
• targeted protein degradation and PROTAC design
• photopharmacology and molecular photoswitches
• structure–activity relationship studies
• interdisciplinary drug-discovery projects integrating chemistry with biological and pharmacological validation

We are particularly interested in MSCA Doctoral Networks in which medicinal chemistry can complement expertise in molecular and cellular biology, pharmacology, structural biology, biotechnology, disease biology or translational research.

The University of Milan can participate as an academic beneficiary and doctoral candidate host, and our group can contribute to doctoral training in medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry, chemical biology and emerging therapeutic modalities.

I am currently open to joining MSCA-DN 2026 consortia already under development, as well as establishing collaborations for future Doctoral Network proposals.