5^th Global Chemistry Congress

Biography

Luisa Di Paola was trained as a Chemical Engineer at the University “La Sapienza”; she got her Ph.D. in Industrial Chemical Processing at the same university. During her doctorate, she was a visiting scholar at the University of California—Berkeley, under the supervision of Prof. J. M. Prausnitz, where she acquired the methods of molecular thermodynamics, with special regard to biomedical and biotechnological applications. Currently, she is Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Fundamentals at the University “Campus Biomedico” in Rome. Her reasearch focuses on integration of biophysical chemistry tools with novel methodologies to analyze complex biological systems (protein structures, biological signaling), biotechnological methods for biofuel production, modeling of transport phenomena in artificial organs (oxygenators, artificial kidney and liver), and physiological compartmental models for pharmacokinetics.

Research Interest

Molecular thermodynamics of complex systems: phase equilibria and physico-chemical properties of proteic solutions, purification of proteic compounds ; Polymeric systems rheology; Artificial Organs: optimization of a bioartificial liver support device, formulation of an artificial synovial fluid, for the wear test of articular prosthesis, modelization and optimization of blood oxygenators, rheological characterization of polymeric systems for tissue engineering; Industrial production of hydrogen: simulation of an integrated membrane reformer. Complex systems analysis, with a special emphasis on biomedical and biological systems of interest (biochemical structures, artificial organs, bioreactors). Energy production from biomasses, by means of biotechnological processes. Protein Systems Biology: Protein structure analysis via Protein Contact Networks. Compartmental models for the dynamic analysis of biomedical images. Kinetic models for tumor growth: estimation of tumor size and chemotherapy outcome.