Phytochemicals for Health

Prof. Marcello Locatelli is an Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry at Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti–Pescara, a position he has held since 2020. His research focuses on developing and validating chromatographic methods for the qualitative and quantitative determination of biologically active molecules in human, animal, cosmetic, food, and environmental matrices. These methods have been applied across a range of analytes and drug associations, including in clinical and pre-clinical studies characterizing new delivery systems and their pharmacological properties. His work also incorporates predictive modeling and chemometrics to optimize extraction protocols and support data processing, with particular attention to innovative micro-extraction techniques and new instrumental configurations for complex matrix analysis. He has an extensive publication record in international peer-reviewed journals and has authored books, book chapters, and a US patent.

Michał Tomczyk pharmacist, member of the Senate of Medical University of Bialystok (2020-2024) and Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica – Drug Research. Since 2018, member of the Team for the Analysis of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Natural Products of the Committee of Analytical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and various international scientific societies including the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Products Research (GA) and the Phytochemistry Society of Europe (PSE). His research focuses on the unique natural products such as polyphenolic compounds and their application in various areas of biomedicine. The natural products/compounds/extracts isolated by the Tomczyk’s laboratory are being examined for anticancer, anticaries, and anti-inflammatory activities. His laboratory also investigates the different analytical methods of natural compounds using a combination of traditional and modern - metabolomic methodologies (LC, HPTLC, and LC-MS). Since 2019, an associate editor of Frontiers in Pharmacology (sec. Ethnopharmacology), an associate editor of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the thematic editor of Molecules or Frontiers in Pharmacology. Member of the editorial board of the following journals: Planta Medica, Acta Pharmaceutica Hungarica, Pharmacognosy Communications, Natural Resources for Human Health and Herbalism. More than 118 manuscripts, 102 oral and poster congress communications and guest editor for 6 special issues attested scientific activity, 100 papers, 1903 citations.

Laura Dugo is Associate professor of Food Chemistry at the Department of Science and Technology for Humans and the Environment, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome. She received her Master Degree in Pharmacy at the University of Messina and the Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, where she also was a post-doctoral fellow at the laboratory of Experimental Pathology. Research activity focuses on food-derived compounds, their biological activity and potential implication of diet composition on human health. Bioactive compounds are investigated through in vitro cellular models of oxidative stress, inflammation and glycation. A specific focus of the research activity is the recovery of bioactive compounds from waste materials of the agri-food chain, with a circular economy perspective, aiming to identify bioactive molecules-rich matrices for nutraceuticals and food supplements manufacturing. 104 peer-reviewed publications, and 5130 citations.

Marina Russo received her Master Degree in Chemistry and the PhD Degree in Chemistry and Food Security at the University of Messina. She had a postdoc grant to carry out a research activity for chemical characterization of by-products and processing of agro-food industry. Currently, she is Associate Professor in Food Chemistry at University of Messina. Research activity of Marina Russo is primarily focused on the development of analytical methods for characterization of nutraceuticals in functional foods. The main topics of research are: development of HPLC and SFC analytical systems for the characterization of nutraceuticals, chiral and non-chiral oxygen heterocyclic compounds in functional foods; isolation and purification of phytochemicals from by-products and processing of agro-food industry; development of on-line extraction techniques coupled with LC and SFC systems for the simultaneous extraction and analysis of bioactive compounds in vegetables. 54 peer-reviewed publications, and 1160 citations.