Philip Bevilacqua

Philip Bevilacqua is Professor of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University, conducting research in RNA biochemistry and biophysics. His work focuses on RNA catalysis, folding mechanisms, and RNA-dependent regulation in viral responses and plant environmental stress adaptation. He is affiliated with Penn State's Health and the Environment research initiative and maintains his laboratory in the Chemistry Building at University Park.

Bevilacqua's research centers on fundamental RNA mechanisms including ribozyme catalysis (particularly Hepatitis Delta Virus ribozymes), RNA structure-function relationships, and environmental RNA responses. His laboratory employs biochemical, biophysical, and computational approaches to investigate RNA folding landscapes, in vivo structure probing, and RNA's role in phase separation. Key interests include metal ion dependence in RNA folding, RNA thermometers in bacterial systems, and prebiotic RNA chemistry in origin-of-life scenarios.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications (2022-2025) reveals strong methodological innovation in RNA structure determination, with emphasis on single-cell techniques, genome-wide prediction tools, and in vivo probing methods. His work bridges fundamental RNA biochemistry with applications in virology, plant stress adaptation, and prebiotic chemistry, showing increasing focus on computational tools and phase separation phenomena.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Edward W. Morley Medal (2025)

Bevilacqua actively mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers through collaborative projects, as evidenced by his extensive publication record with junior co-authors. His research receives support from multiple funding sources including NSF and NIH grants, though specific awards aren't detailed in available texts.

He leads an interdisciplinary research group within Penn State's Chemistry Department, collaborating with plant biologists (Sally Assmann), microbiologists (Philip Babitzke), and biophysicists (Christine Keating). His laboratory develops cutting-edge tools like VariantFoldRNA and CHiTA for RNA analysis, contributing significantly to RNA structural biology and functional genomics.