19 July – Speakers and presentations

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19 July – Presenters & Presentations

Cosimo Altomare

Cosimo D. Altomare is full professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Department of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Bari (Italy) since 2001, where he currently serves as Coordinator of the M.Sci. Degree in Pharmacy and Industrial Pharmacy. He spent more than two years (1990-92) as post-doctoral fellow at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), whereas in 2008 and 2015 he was appointed as visiting professor at the Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) in Moscow and the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). Prof. Altomare has authored 160 publications in journals with high impact factor, several book chapters and international patents, mostly pertaining computational chemistry, cheminformatics and molecular modeling as applied to drug design and synthesis of novel neurological, cardiovascular and anticancer agents. Invited speaker at several international conferences, since 2012 he serves as Co-Editor of the European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Elsevier). In the framework of long-dating collaboration with Consorzio per Valutazioni Biologiche e Farmacologiche (CVBF), Prof. Altomare actively contributed with his research unit within two projects: Small Medicines Advanced Research Training (SMART) and the European Paediatric Translational Research Infrastructure (EPTRI).

EPTRI Paediatric Medicines Discovery TRP

Grazia Tamma

Grazia Tamma has a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Bari (ITALY) and PhD in Cellular and Molecular Technologies in Physiology. Currently she is an associate Professor of Physiology at the Department of Bioscience, Biotechnology and Pharmacological Science at the University of Bari. Her research since 2001 was almost completely devoted to investigating the physiological actions of the hormone vasopressin. Several cell molecular approaches have been applied to identify intracellular signaling controlling the effects of vasopressin in regulating the AQP2 mediated water reabsorption in health and disease. Particular attention has been dedicated to the involvement of the small GTPases of the Rho family that are important players controlling actin dynamics and the vasopressin-dependent AQP2 trafficking. More recently, Grazia Tamma extended her interest to study extrarenal functions of the hormone vasopressin associated with hyponatremia, syndrome of inappropriate secretion of the antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), inflammation, and oxidative stress. In addition, in the last few years, she extended her competence and expertise to functionally characterize the actions of different antioxidant phytocompounds which may be relevant in healthy nutrition.

AI-assisted drug repurposing studies for the identification of new promising vasopressin V2 receptor ligands for pharmacotherapy in pediatric nephrology

Hana Kubova

Dr. Hana Kubova completed her master’s degree in Pharmacy at Charles University, Czech Republic and continued to conduct her Ph.D. in pharmacology there. After completing Ph.D. in 1990 she moved to the Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences. Dr. Kubova spent her post-doc in A. Einstein College of Medicine, NY in the laboratory of prof. Nico Moshe. In 1995 she completed her D.Sc. degree in the Institute of Physiology and from 2000 she was appointed as a head of Department of Developmental Epileptology. Research Interests and Philosophy: Research of her team focuses on seizures and epilepsy in developing the brain, pharmacology of anti-seizure drugs during early development and on age-specific treatment of epilepsy. The team uses a combination of various approaches ranging from molecular biology, histology to electrophysiology and behavioral monitoring.

What animal tests can tell us about safety of drugs for developing brain?

Paola Minghetti

Paola Minghetti graduated in Pharmacy and Industrial Pharmacy cum laude, obtained her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences. She is a full Pharmaceutical Technology and Regulatory Affairs professor at Università degli Studi di Milano. She is Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Science and from 2020 to 2023 was Dean of the School of Pharmacy. She is involved in the Hospital Pharmacist Post-Graduated School. She is an Italian Pharmacopoeia expert and member of the AIFA Evaluation and Authorization Secretariat and of the Minister of Health Veterinary Drugs Evaluation and Authorization Group. She is President of the Italian Society of Compounding Pharmacists and vice-president of the Italian Society of Industrial Pharmacists. Her research is mainly related to transdermal and buccal drug delivery systems; doctrinal elaboration of national and UE legislation related to the production and the commercialization of medicinal products, medical devices, and health products; and magistral formula compounding in hospital and community pharmacies.

Are the regulatory aspects of pediatric medicinal products really optimized?

Emilia Biffi

Emilia Biffi obtained a PhD Degree cum laude in Bioengineering in 2012. Since 2013 she is a researcher at the Scientific Institute IRCCS E. Medea working in the Bioengineering Lab. She is involved in several projects on new technologies for the rehabilitation and assistance of neuromotor and cognitive impairments of children. She has a long-standing experience in the on-field testing of medical devices and clinical trials involving high tech devices, such as robots, virtual reality and wearable sensors. She was editor of a 14-chapter book in the Springer series, authored more than 90 journal papers and she is unit principal investigator in national and international projects. She was professor in the class “Electronic and Information Bioengineering” at University of Milan for 7 years.

EPTRI Medical Devices TRP

Clara Baldari

Clara Baldari is a biotechnologist with a PhD in Physics and Nanoscience at University of Salento. Now she is working as a post-doc at CNR NANOTEC Institute of Nanotechnology of Lecce in the team of Prof. Giuseppe Gigli and Dr. Ilaria Elena Palamà on a project which involves gene and drug delivery of biomimetic nanoparticles for precision medicine.

Nanoparticles for target therapy in pediatric brain cancers

Nicola Gambarcota

Nicola Gambacorta is currently a research fellow at the ‘Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” Institute IRCSS in San Giovanni Rotondo (Foggia, Italy). He earned his Master’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Bari in July 2018. In February 2020, he completed the PSF – Drug Design and Development Master’s program at the University of Pavia, which included a six-month internship at the G. Ronzoni Institute for Chemical and Biochemical Research in Milan. In February 2023, he obtained his Ph.D. in Drug Sciences from the Department of Pharmacy-Drug Sciences at the University of Bari. He is the author of more than fifty publications in international scientific journals. His research primarily focuses on molecular modeling and the application of artificial intelligence techniques in drug discovery.

Bridging Pediatric Disease Research and Developmental Toxicology with Artificial Intelligence-based Public Web Platforms

Domenico Ventrella

Domenico Ventrella (DVM, PhD) is a veterinarian currently working as Senior Assistant Professor in Veterinary Physiology at the University of Bologna, Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, where he also serves as vice-head of the porcine experimental facility. He has a background in veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia, and obtained his PhD in 2017 with a project focussed on translational medicine titled: “The biomedical Piglet: Physiological Investigations, New Techniques and Future Applications”. His research interests are mainly oriented towards the use of large animal models for preclinical investigations and development of drugs/medical devices, as well as physiological characterization of models. He has expertise in study design, model development, surgical and medical procedures and data analysis. Domenico is responsible for different research protocols in collaboration with both private and public institutions, and is task leader of the porcine lactation experimental activities within the IMI-funded ConcePTION project (https://www.imi-conception.eu/). Due to his involvement in this project, his research interests have expanded to studying the physiology of lactation in different pre-clinical animal species, and the potential exposure of offspring to maternal medication via milk. He is a member of the scientific board of the Italian Society of Veterinary Physiology, and has organized several Summer Schools and teaching activities in the field of laboratory animal medicine. He is co-author of 48 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Gottingen minipig model to study drug milk excretion and breastfed infant drug exposure

Nunzio Denora

Nunzio Denora received a degree in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Bari in 2001 and achieved his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Palermo in 2004. After a postdoctoral position at the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department of the Kansas University, US (2005-2006), he was appointed as an assistant professor and research scientist in Pharmaceutical Technology at the Department of Pharmacy – Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. Since 2019 he is an associate professor of Pharmaceutical Technology heading a formulation research laboratory focusing on advanced drug delivery systems. He has published more than 150 research articles, and he is the inventor of 6 patents concerning formulations and diagnostic probes. Since 2016, he is heading the Inter-University Consortium CIRCSMB research group of Bari (> 30 scientists) and serves as Scientific Advisor for pharmaceutical companies. He is a member of the Board ADRITELF Italy Chapter and an advisory board member for the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and other different journals in the field of Pharmaceutics. His research is devoted to the development of paediatric formulations by conventional and/or innovative techniques.

EPTRI Paediatric Medicines Formulations TRP

Dimitrios G. Fatouros

Dimitrios Fatouros is a Professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Pharmacy. He holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Patras in Greece, and he was a Post-Doctoral fellow at the Leiden/Amsterdam Centre of Drug Delivery (LA/CDR) Research Assistant Professor at the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth, School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences. His areas of research expertise cover advanced drug delivery systems, nanomedicine and nanotechnology with special focus on additive manufacturing, mucosal delivery, poorly soluble drugs, in vitro digestion models and self-assembling peptides. He has co-authored over 200 peer research articles and book chapters (google Scholar 6659, h index 46). He has been or participating in national, industrial and EU funded projects. He has filled eight patent and patent applications. He is Deputy Editor in Chief of Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology (Elsevier) and member of the Editorial Boards of several journals.

Innovative Drug delivery Systems

Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss

Prof. Patrice L. (Tamar) Weiss graduated with a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapist (University of Western Ontario), a master’s degree in kinesiology (University of Waterloo) and PhD in physiology and biomedical engineering (McGill University). In 2001, she established the Laboratory for Innovations in Rehabilitation Technology at the University of Haifa where she developed and evaluated novel virtual environments, haptic interfaces, co-located and online technologies to explore the effect of individual, tele-rehabilitation and collaborative platforms for a range of children (e.g., autism, ADHD, DDC, ABI) and adults (e.g., SCI, ABI, ALS, stroke) with cognitive and motor impairments. Her research has been funded by many national and international agencies. She has co-edited two books, authored more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, proceedings and book chapters and delivered numerous keynote addresses at international conferences. Prof. Weiss is a founding board member of the International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation and the 2017 recipient of its Distinguished Career Award. Her major activities over the past three years have been to co-establish PARC and supports its principal investigators and their research teams in her capacity as the Executive Research Advisor.

Innovative technology-based interventions, including virtual reality for paediatric rehabilitation

Giovanni Tauro

Giovanni Tauro graduated in Industrial Design and specialized in Design & Engineering at the Polytechnic of Milan in June 2020. After a 6-month period as a guest student with the Erasmus+ program at the University of Chiba in Japan, he defended his thesis by presenting an innovative product for oral hygiene, delving into topics related to human-product interaction. Following various freelance projects in automotive and medtech, starting from February 2021, he embarked on a journey as a “Research Fellow” in the field of Human-Product Interaction, funded by the HCLE (Human-centered Living Environment) project at the National Research Council, STIIMA institute in Lecco. The main themes addressed involve designing adaptive Human-Centered systems aimed at enhancing user needs in rehabilitative contexts. With the “PhiCube” project, he has received several awards, including the Social Impact Award from StartCup Lombardia 2022, Top 12 start-ups in Medica 2022, and since June 2023, he has taken on the role of Chief Product Officer at the startup Rehabilia Technologies. To conclude, he is completing the 1st year of DIMSAI at Univerity of Bologna with focus on IoT-based Multimodal Context-Aware systems to promote Perceptual-Motor Skills in Development Coordination Disorders (DCD).

PhiCube: bilateral upper limb device for neuromotor recovery