Stefano Tomassi graduated in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" in 2009 and obtained a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Naples Federico II in 2014, defending a thesis on the design and synthesis of small modulators of histone methyltransferases and demethylases. In 2014-2015, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at TU Dortmund, where he worked on the development of covalent targeted inhibitors of EGFR mutant variants to counter drug-resistant forms of NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer). Back in Italy, he held post-doctoral positions at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, conducting research on the implementation of new synthetic methodologies and macrocyclicisation strategies for peptides, and evaluating said chemotypes on different extracellular biological targets.
In 2019, he was appointed Tenure Track Researcher (Art. 24, Comma 3, Lett. A then B, Law 30/12/2010 N. 240) at the Department of Pharmacy of the University of Naples Federico II, where he continued his research activities in the field of biological modulation of different molecular targets by small chemical entities, peptidomimetics and small peptides, and was a lecturer in courses related to quality control of innovative drugs. In 2022, he was appointed Visiting Academic at the Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, where he was involved in research projects in the field of Fragment-Based Drug Design to develop chemical probes for previously unexplored E3 Ubiquitin ligases.
His research activities involve the use of organic chemistry for the synthezation of chemical probes, from small organic entities to peptides/peptidomimetics, and target proteins involved in various diseases. Peptides are extremely versatile structures and are often developed as diagnostic tools in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) investigations. The main areas of research include transmembrane receptors, epigenetic/epitranscriptomic targets and E3 Ubiquitin ligases for which modulators are designed using a Structure-Based Drug Design approach.
Curriculum Vitae OFFICE HOURS
The professor is available to receive the students at the end of the lessons. However, the students may also request an appointment by email.