Lab Members
Quick links:
Prof. Mattia Mori | Prof. Andrea Tafi | Stefano Ciaco | Luigi Cutarella | Martina Fiabane | Nicolò Messano
Prof. Mattia Mori
Prof. Mattia Mori is the Principal Investigator of the Lab-Mori research group working in the field of medicinal chemistry through advanced computational simulations and biophysical studies, aimed at the characterization of target macromolecules and small molecules with pharmacological potential, capable of interacting with macromolecules of different nature.
Connect: Curriculum vitae | ORCID
Prof. Andrea Tafi
Prof. Andrea Tafi earned his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1994, focusing on the application of computational techniques to medicinal chemistry. After research experience at the National Technical University of Athens, he joined the University of Siena, where he was a Researcher in Medicinal Chemistry from 1996 to 2005 and has been Associate Professor since 2005. He currently teaches Quantitative Pharmaceutic Analysis. His research is centered on computational medicinal chemistry, with particular emphasis on molecular modeling, molecular dynamics, and quantum mechanics methods applied to drug–receptor interactions, biological macromolecules, and structure–activity relationship studies of pharmaceutical compounds.
Connect: University profile | Curriculum vitae
Stefano Ciaco
Stefano Ciaco, Ph.D. is a medicinal chemist and computational biophysicist with expertise in molecular modeling, structure-based drug design, and biophysical characterization of nucleic acids and proteins. Experienced in molecular dynamics simulations, docking, and virtual screening combined with experimental techniques such as circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, ITC, and cellular assays. His work focuses on identifying and validating druggable targets, particularly G-quadruplex structures involved in antimicrobial resistance and disease pathways. He has hands-on experience in medicinal chemistry workflows, data analysis, and integration of computational and experimental approaches to support drug discovery and target validation. He has worked in multidisciplinary academic environments and EU-funded projects, contributing to assay development, compound evaluation, and structural analysis of biomolecular targets.
Luigi Cutarella
Luigi Cutarella is a PhD candidate in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Siena, supervised by Prof. Mattia Mori. He earned his MSc in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, where he developed a strong passion for molecular modelling. He applies a cutting-edge in silico toolkit, atomistic and coarse-grained molecular dynamics, alchemical free-energy calculations, high-throughput virtual screening, and advanced bacterial membrane models, to unravel the molecular drivers of antibiotic resistance in multidrug-resistant pathogens and to support the design and optimization of anticancer small molecules. He is an active member of EURESTOP, a COST Action network that brings together multidisciplinary expertise to outsmart antimicrobial resistance.
Martina Fiabane
Martina Fiabane graduated in Pharmacy at the University of Siena. She began her scientific journey within Prof. Mattia Mori’s research group during her Master's thesis, subsequently consolidating her expertise as a research fellow. Currently, she is a second-year PhD student in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, conducting her research in industrial partnership with Aquaprox srl. Her project focuses on AMR, specifically targeting bacterial G-quadruplexes and proteins. Additionally, in line with the industrial co-funding, she investigates innovative solutions for wastewater treatment. Her multidisciplinary approach integrates computational methods—such as Molecular Modeling, Virtual Screening, Molecular Docking, and Molecular Dynamics simulations—with biophysical techniques, particularly Circular Dichroism and UV-Vis spectroscopy. She is an active member of the EURESTOP and BIOAQUA COST Actions.
Nicolò Messano
Nicolò Messano is a PhD Student in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Siena, where he is currently conducting research under the supervision of Prof. Mattia Mori and Prof. Andrea Tafi. He earned his Master’s Degree in Pharmacy from the same institution, completing a thesis project focused on the identification of new Metallo-β-Lactamases inhibitors through computational repurposing within Prof. Mattia Mori’s lab. His research interests are centered on computational chemistry, specifically in molecular modeling, molecular dynamics, and molecular docking using software such as GOLD, Fred, and AutoDock. He also works with the Amber package and Linux environments. Nicolò has co-authored several scientific publications in international journals.