Roberto Di Santo

Roberto Di Santo, a Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology of Sapienza University of Rome, specializes in Drug Design and Synthetic Medicinal Chemistry. His research focuses on developing Antimicrobial Agents against viruses (HIV, SARS-CoV-2, HCV, CHIKV), bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and mycobacteria, with additional work on Antitumor Agents targeting kinases and tubulin.

• Key Expertise: Microwave-assisted synthesis, flow chemistry, parallel synthesis, and classic batch methods for drug development
• Notable Targets: HIV-1 integrase, SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13, carbonic anhydrases IX/XII, trypanothione reductase

Research Interests span multiple domains:

• Virology: Designing SARS-CoV-2 protease/Nsp13 inhibitors, HIV ribonuclease H inhibitors
• Oncology: Kinase/tubulin inhibitors, PDCD4 stabilizers, Aurora-A/HDAC dual targets
• Microbiology: Metallo-β-lactamase inhibitors, biofilm disruptors (Candida albicans, Histoplasma capsulatum)
• Pharmacology: Sigma-1 receptor agonists, endocannabinoid system modulators

Industry Collaborations include projects with:

• Sigma-Tau: β-amyloid aggregation inhibitors, antimalarial agents
• ACRAF: 5-HT4 receptor ligands
• AlfaSigma: Triamcinolone derivatives, heparanase inhibitors
• Pfizer: Combiotic formulations
• Microbo: Metallo-β-lactamase inhibitors

Techniques employ modern synthetic approaches (microwave heating, flow chemistry) alongside traditional methods.