Antonia Nostro

Professor Antonia Nostro is a Full Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology (SSD MEDS-03) at the Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina. She has been actively contributing to academia since obtaining her Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Messina in 1986, followed by qualifications as a Biologist (1987), Specialization in Applied Microbiology (1990), and PhD in Biopharmaceutical Microbiology (1995). She became a Permanent Researcher in 1998, qualified as Full Professor in 2016-2017, and was appointed Full Professor in 2019.

Her research focuses on antimicrobial and antivirulence activity of conventional and natural molecules against drug-resistant microorganisms, effects on microbial pathogenicity characteristics and virulence factors, biofilm formation dynamics, and development of micro- and nanostructured release systems for microbial control. Professor Nostro has published 88 papers with an h-index of 34 and 4,662 total citations according to Scopus data.

Her recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate a strong emphasis on novel antimicrobial approaches including hydrogel coatings for medical devices, solid lipid nanoparticles, calixarene-based delivery systems, and combinations of natural compounds with antibiotics. These works span across pharmaceutical science, nanotechnology, and infectious disease research with applications in joint infection prevention, ocular health, and antimicrobial resistance solutions.

• Fondo di Finanziamento delle Attività Base di Ricerca (FFABR) 2017 from MIUR
• Premio SIROE in 2016 and 2014
• Miglior Poster for the Bacteriology session at SIM Congress 2014
• Recognition in Stanford University's World Ranking of best researchers (Microbiology category, 2022)

Professor Nostro actively supervises students, having guided over 25 final theses and several international doctoral students from Tunisia, Algeria, and Turkey. She manages current research projects including PRIN PNRR 2022 BIONANOF and has secured multiple FFABR research grants. Her teaching portfolio includes Microbiology for Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technology, Clinical and Pharmaceutical Microbiology, and Microbiology Applied to Materials courses.

She serves on editorial boards of several journals including 'Recent Patents on Anti-Infective Drug Discovery' and 'Coatings', and is actively involved with professional societies such as SIROE, SIM, and SIMiF ETS. Professor Nostro also participates in conference organization, including the 13th National Congress of Pharmaceutical Microbiology in Naples (2021).