Group
Sortino Group in September 2024. Left to right: Aurore Fraix, Tassia Joy Martins,Thomas Lecuyer, Samanta Sollima, Benjamin Clepoint, Francesca Laneri, Marika Cuddè, Chiara Di Rosa, Cristina Parisi, Salvatore Sortino
Group Members
Salvatore Sortino (Italy)
Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
Group Leader
Tel. +39 095 7385079
Email: ssortino@unict.it
After receiving the Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences in 1994 from the University of Catania (Italy) he carried out postdoctoral research at the CNR of Bologna (Italy) until 1996. In the same year he joined, the University of Catania where he is now Full Professor. He was visiting scientist at the University of Ottawa (Canada) in 1998-1999 (Prof. J.C. Scaiano) and at the University of Miami (USA) in 2004 and 2011 (Prof. F.M. Raymo). He has authored more than 200 publications and 2 patents in the field of photochemistry. His current scientific interests mainly focus on the development of light-activatable nanoconstructs for biomedical applications.
Aurore Fraix (France)
Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry
Tel. +39 095 7385059
Email: fraix@unict.it
Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2010 from the University of Brest (France). In 2011 she joined the research group of Prof. Sortino as a Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellow. From 2017 is Assistant Professor and in 2018 she has been habilited to Associated Professor. Her current research interests are focused on molecular assemblies for photocontrolled biomedical release. She co-authored about 70 publications and 1 patent in this field.
Tassia Joi Martins (Brazil)
Post-Doc
Tel. +39 095 7385059
Email: tassiajoi@gmail.com
PhD in Chemistry with emphasis in Inorganic Chemistry (2018) from University of São Paulo, Brazil. Post-doc at Federal University of São Carlos (2020) and University of São Paulo (2022). In 2022, she joined the research group of Prof. Sortino as a Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellow. Her current research interests are in synthesis of inorganic compounds with focus on cancer and infectious diseases treatments through Photodynamic Therapy.
Thomas Lecuyer (France)
Post-Doc
Tel. +39 095 7385059
Email: thomas.lecuyer@alumni.chimie-paristech.fr
PhD in chemistry/Biology, from Paris Descartes University, on persistent luminescence nanoparticles for diagnosis . Post-doctoral fellowship at Paris Diderot University on the functionalization and toxicity assessment of luminescent nano-thermometer (FET OPEN NanoTBTech). In 2022 he joined Pr. Sortino’s group as a postdoc on the PHOLIES project (PI Dr. A. Fraix), on the use of DASA in liposomes for drug release. His main research interests are based on the development of new nano-systems for health, their functionalization, and their toxicity assessment.
Cristina Parisi (Italy)
PhD Student
Tel. +39 095 7385059
Email: cristinaparisi@virgilio.it
Graduated in Chemistry 2017 she joined the group as graduated fellow in 2018 and from 2019 she is PhD student with a project focused on the development fluorescent nanoconstructs for therapeutic delivery.
Francesca Laneri (Italy)
PhD Student
Tel. +39 095 7385059
Email: fralave496@gmail.com
Graduated in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Tecnologies 2020 at the University of Catania, she joined the group in 2021 as PhD student with a project focused on the development of light-activatable polymeric nanoparticles for multimodal anticancer therapy.
Benjamin Clepoint (France)
PhD Student
Tel. +39 095 7385059
Email: benjamin.clepoint@phd.unict.it
Graduated in Chemistry in 2022 at the University of Brest (France), he joined the group as PhD student (Tutor Dr. A. Fraix) with a project focused on the development of a green light-induced nanostructure for a multimodal strategy in cancer therapy.
Juliana Guerra Pinto (Brazil)
Visiting Scientist
Tel. +39 095 7385059
Email: jgbiomd@gmail.com
Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 2016 from the University of Vale do Paraiba – UNIVAP (Brazil). In 2012, she joined the research group of Prof. Ferreira-Strixino as a Ph.D. Student. In 2019 she joined Universidade do Vale do Paraiba – UNIVAP (Brazil) as Assistant Professor. Her current research interests focus on Photodynamic Therapy, Parasitology, particularly Leishmania protozoa and microbiology. She joined the group of Prof. Sortino in October 2022 as Visiting Scientist with a project funded by the European Photochemical Association.
Past Members
Nadia Licciardello (Italy) – Assistant Professort
Adriana Graziano (Italy) – Post Doct
Yota Suzuki (Japan) – Visiting PhD Student
Mimimorena Seggio – PhD Student
Giuseppe Longobardi (Italy) – Visiting PhD Student
Federica Sodano (Italy) – Post Doc
Montassar Khalil (France) – Visiting PhD Student
Sara Payamifar (Iran) – Visiting PhD Student
Marta Perez Lloret (Spain) – PhD Marie Curie Student
Ivana Di Bari (Italy) – PhD Student
Mariacristina Failla (Italy) – Post-Graduated Fellow
Andre L. Tessaro (Brasil) – Visiting Scientist
Damien Afonso (France) – Post Doc Marie Curie Fellow
Nino Marino (Italy) – Post Doc
Federica Sodano (Italy) – Visiting PhD Student
Noufal Kandoth (India) – PhD Marie Curie Student
Sara Maiolino (Italy) – Visiting PhD Student
Monica Camerin (Italy) – Post Doc
Huber Hetteger (Austria) – Visiting PhD Student
Patricia Taladriz-Blanco (Spain) – Visiting PhD Student
Milo Malanga (Hungary) – Visiting PhD Marie Curie Student
Linda Piras (Greece) – Visiting Post Doc Marie Curie Fellow
Elisa Vittorino (Italy) – Post Doc
Maria Rita Barone (Italy) – Post-Graduated Fellow
Fiorella Callari (Italy) – PhD Student
Fiorella Callari (Italy) – Post Doc
Elisa Caruso (Italy) – PhD Student
Salvatore Petralia (Italy) – PhD Student
Salvatore Petralia (Italy) – Post Doc