Sabina Passamonti

Sabina Passamonti is a University Researcher in Biochemistry (BIO/10) at the Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste. She has been a university researcher since 1992 and serves as a member of the Departmental Council and Doctoral Colleges for Neuroscience and Cognitive Science. Her research spans nutritional biochemistry, molecular nutrition, and bilirubin transport mechanisms, with significant contributions to understanding the interactions between dietary compounds and human physiology.

Dr. Passamonti's research focuses on the membrane transport of bilirubin and flavonoids, particularly anthocyanins. She has made groundbreaking discoveries regarding the gastric absorption of anthocyanins, their pharmacokinetics, brain distribution, and cardiovascular effects. Her work has identified anthocyanins as molecular probes for hepatic bilirubin transport. She developed the HUG protein kit for fluorimetric analysis of bile pigments, which has applications across experimental models and clinical analyses.

Her research portfolio includes 119 publications with an H-index of 32 and a total personal impact factor of 589. Current projects center on precision diagnostics of bile pigments, new blood biomarkers for fish welfare assessment, screening bile pigments in human plasma biobanks, heme catabolism in cell cultures, development of HELP polypeptides and conjugates, and antimicrobial components resistant to antibiotic resistance.

• National Scientific Qualification for full professor (2012)
• National Scientific Qualification for full professor (2016)
• European funding for Trans2Care and Innov-H2O projects (€4 million)
• Expert for European Food Safety Authority (since 2020)

Dr. Passamonti has trained 12 doctoral students and 30 international researchers over 12 years, and hired 25 researchers on various contracts totaling 52 years. She coordinates large Research & Innovation network projects involving 21 institutional partners funded by European structural funds. Her current projects include Trans2Care, Innov-H2O, Agrotur II, AdriAquaNet, and iNEST (Interconnected Nord-East Innovation project).

She leads the Molecular Nutrition and Regenerative Medicine research group, which has expertise spanning medicine, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology. The group collaborates with Antonella Bandiera, Federica Tramer, and other researchers on developing biomimetic materials, drug delivery systems, and innovative biological assays. Their work bridges basic research with practical applications in health, nutrition, and biotechnology.