Debora Concetta SANTONOCITO

 I’m Debora Concetta Santonocito, an Associate Researcher at the Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania (Italy).

I’m graduated in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology at University of Catania (Italy) in 2016 with a final work concerning the “Evaluation of antioxidant and anticancer activity of compounds extracted from Crocus Sativus L. through lipid nanoparticles”.

In the same university I obtained a contract as research collaborator and I won a scholarship grant to work in a project related to “Optimization of the formulation process of lipid nanoparticles containing crocin and crocetin”.

During my PhD course (2017-2020), I worked on the research project “Lipid Nanoparticles as Tools for the Administration of Active Natural Products Aimed to the Treatment of Nervous System Disorders”, under the supervision of Prof. Puglia at Department of Drug and Health Sciences (University of Catania). Along this period, I acquired skills on preparation and characterization of different lipid nanocarriers and studied many strategies in order to formulate stable lipid nanoparticles loaded with natural compounds, suitable for parenteral/ocular administration, for the potential treatment of nervous system disorders. Moreover, I spent of my PhD course (4 months) at Departamento de Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica-University of Santiago di Compostela (Spain), under the supervision of Prof. Carmen Alvarez Lorenzo. During the latter period, I learned many skills about toxicity and ophthalmology studies (HET-CAM test, Hemocompatibility assay, Corneal and sclera permeability assay). Furthermore, I’m the author or co-author of several pubblications.