Unveiling the potential of synthetic nucleic acid analogues - Prof. Giorgia Oliviero - Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnologies – University of Naples Federico II
Abstract : Nucleic acids, beyond being life’s building blocks, have shown immense potential in diagnostics and therapy, serving both as targets for personalized medicine and as targeted drugs. Their power stems from their unique nucleobase sequences and structural polymorphism. Advances in synthesizing chemically modified oligonucleotides—altering sugars, nucleobases, or both—have enabled applications in medicine, diagnostics, and biomaterials.
[1] R. Moretta, M. Terracciano, N. Borbone, G. Oliviero, C. Schiattarella, G. Piccialli, A.P. Falanga, M. Marzano, P. Dardano, L. De Stefano, I. Rea, Nanomaterials 2020, 10, 2233.
[2] T. Crisci, A.P. Falanga, M. Casalino, N. Borbone, M. Terracciano, G. Chianese, M. Gioffrè, S. D’Errico, M. Marzano, I. Rea, L. De Stefano, G. Oliviero, Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 523.
[3] N. Borbone, G. Piccialli, G.N. Roviello, G. Oliviero, Molecules 2021, 26, 986.
[4] N. Borbone, I. Piccialli, A.P. Falanga, V. Piccialli, G.N. Roviello, G. Oliviero, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 4359.
[5] E. Cesaro, A.P. Falanga, R. Catapano, F. Greco, S. Romano, N. Borbone, A. Pastore, M. Marzano, F. Chiurazzi, S. D’errico, G. Piccialli, G. Oliviero, P. Costanzo, M. Grosso, PLoS ONE 2022, 17, e0266090.
[6] N. Borbone, J. Amato, G. Oliviero, V. D’Atri, V. Gabelica, E. De Pauw, G. Piccialli, L. Mayol, Nucleic Acids Res. 2011, 39, 7848 – 7857.
[7] M. Marzano, S. D’Errico, F. Greco, A.P. Falanga, M. Terracciano, D. Di Prisco, G. Piccialli, N. Borbone, G. Oliviero, Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 2023, 253, 127062.
Biography: Giorgia Oliviero is a Full Professor at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. She earned her Master’s Degree in Chemistry in 1997 and her PhD in Drug Sciences in 2002, both at the University of Naples Federico II. Her academic career includes positions as a Tenured Researcher (2004–2016) and Associate Professor (2016–2023) at the same university. She has held visiting researcher roles at the University of Liège, Belgium (2008), and the University of Helsinki, Finland (2014), where she was also a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy.
Prof. Oliviero is a member of the Coordination Committee for the Joint Research Unit “Infrastructure for System Biology Europe” (ISBE-IT) since 2019 and has been active in the Italian Chemical Society, serving on the Board of Directors of the “Interdivisional Biotechnology Group” (2017–2022) and as its Coordinator (2023–2025).
With over 135 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, an h-index of 30, and more than €1.5 million secured as Principal Investigator in recent years, she is a leader in the field of nucleic acid chemistry. Her research focuses on nucleoside and nucleotide analogues, DNA G-quadruplexes, peptide nucleic acids, and aptamer optimization for theranostics.
A recipient of the 2024 Organic Chemistry Division Award for Life Sciences, she is an invited speaker at the 2024 Italian Chemical Society Congress. She has served on various PhD and research evaluation boards in Italy and abroad and contributes to the editorial boards of prominent journals like Molecules and Marine Drugs. Prof. Oliviero actively organizes scientific events, including the International Summer School on Natural Products and the Workshop “Chemists for Biotechnologies.”.