Marcella BassettoView profile
Senior Lecturer
Dr. Marcella Bassetto is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Swansea University. She joined Swansea University in September 2019 as a Lecturer in Chemistry, following a Sêr Cymru II Individual Research Fellowship at Cardiff University where she focused on computer-aided design and synthesis of new antiviral agents. Her expertise spans molecular modeling, computer-aided drug design, medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, and antiviral research. Dr. Bassetto earned her degree in Medicinal Chemistry and Technology from the University of Padova, Italy, in 2010, and completed her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from Cardiff University in 2013. Her doctoral research focused on computer-aided design and synthesis of potential antiviral agents against HCV. After her PhD, she worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Cardiff University developing fluorinated anticancer agents for prostate cancer treatment, followed by a brief stint at a pharmaceutical company in Rome as a synthetic chemist. Her research interests center on computer-aided drug design and synthesis of novel therapeutic agents, with particular focus on antiviral compounds targeting viruses such as norovirus, chikungunya, Zika, and SARS-CoV-2. She employs molecular modeling and structure-based approaches to design novel compounds that can inhibit viral replication or correct protein misfolding in retinal diseases. Her work bridges computational chemistry with synthetic organic chemistry to develop potential therapeutics for various diseases. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong trend in antiviral drug discovery, with significant focus on structure-based and ligand-based design approaches. Her research spans multiple viral targets including norovirus polymerase, EV71, chikungunya virus, and SARS-CoV-2. She has also made contributions to research on chemical chaperones for retinal diseases and anticancer agents targeting leukemia and prostate cancer. Sêr Cymru II Individual Research Fellowship (2016) Dr. Bassetto is actively involved in postgraduate supervision, having supervised PhD projects on topics including antiviral agent development and novel materials for gas separation. She has secured research funding for projects targeting schistosomiasis, retinal blinding diseases, norovirus treatments, and antiviral compounds against vector-borne diseases like chikungunya and Zika. Her teaching focuses on organic and biological chemistry for undergraduate chemistry students, with emphasis on medicinal chemistry and drug design principles. Her research involves collaboration with multiple laboratories and institutions, particularly with Professor Brancale's group at Cardiff University. She maintains an active research program with ongoing projects targeting viral diseases and protein misfolding disorders, utilizing both computational and experimental approaches in her drug discovery pipeline.
