Denise Bellotti, a PhD student of the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Ferrara, is the winner of the Edition 2020 of the “Fernando Pulidori Award”.
Denise Bellotti obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemistry with final grades 110/110 cum laude at the University of Ferrara and she later enrolled for the International joint PhD programme in Chemistry between University of Ferrara (Italy) and University of Wrocław (Poland). Her scientific activity ranges from analytical chemistry to biological inorganic chemistry and mainly focuses on metals coordination chemistry in aqueous solution and thermodynamic aspects of complex-formation equilibria. She currently studies the mechanism of metal ions (such as zinc, copper, nickel and iron) trafficking at the host/pathogen interface, in order to develop novel highly specific metal-based antibiotics. Examples of her scientific results include the characterization of the metal binding sites of metal-transporters and metallophores from Candida albicans, Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica and of antimicrobial peptides (i.e. human calcitermin).
International Symposium on Thermodynamics of Metal Complexes ISMEC 2021 