Organisms of all domains of life are capable of sensing, using and responding to light. The molecular mechanisms used are diverse, but most commonly the starting event is an electronic excitation localized on a chromophoric unit bound to a protein matrix. The initial excitation rapidly “travels” across space to be converted in other forms of energy and finally used to complete the biological function. The whole machinery spans many different space and time scales: from the ultrafast electronic process localized at the subnanoscale of the chromophoric units, through conformational processes which involve large parts of the protein and are completed within micro- to milli-seconds, up to the activation of new protein-protein interactions requiring seconds or more. Theoretically addressing this cascade of processes calls for new models and computational strategies able to reproduce the dynamics across multiple space and time scales. Such a goal is formidably challenging as the interactions and the dynamics involved at each scale follow completely different laws, from those of the quantum world to those of classical particles. Only a strategy based upon the integration of quantum chemistry, classical atomistic and coarse-grained models up to continuum approximations, can achieve the required completeness of description. This project aims at developing such integration and transforming it into high-performance computing codes. The completeness and accuracy reached by the simulations will represent a breakthrough in our understanding of the mechanisms, which govern the light-driven bioactivity. Through this novel point of observation of the action from the “inside”, it will be possible not only to reveal the ‘design principles’ used by Nature but also to give a “practical” instrument to test “in silico” new techniques for the control of cellular processes by manipulating protein functions through light.

Pulmonary cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Surgery is associated with high morbidity and operative mortality. One of the main causes of the poor survival rate is cancer relapse at the surgical resection margins. Thus, developing a strategy to minimize the local recurrence rate of lung cancer efficiently is greatly needed. Nanotechnology-assisted approaches, such as nanoparticles (NPs) and nanofibers (NFs) obtained via electrospinning could enable novel strategies to fabricate better performing implantable devices, including localized drug delivery systems. Many working parameters affect the final outcomes in electrospinning and different fibrous architectures can be generated, much is still to be understood to precisely control, and ultimately predict the mechanical, physico-chemical, and bioactive properties of the resulting meshes, which are essential in pulmonary tissues. The Postdoctoral Fellowship Researcher (PFR) has studied biodegradable fibers as drug delivery systems in her Ph.D. and Post Doc and herein aims to develop a biodegradable nanofibrous patch based on elastin (i.e., the native component of the pulmonary tissues) containing chemotherapeutics via electrospinning/electrospray. To achieve this ambitious goal, the PFR needs to learn multiscale materials design and artificial intelligence to precisely match the mechanical properties of lung tissue, which will be addressed during the outgoing phase at MIT. PFR will also investigate the encapsulation of chemotherapy and immunotherapy inside electrosprayed NPs, will model release mechanisms at MIT and will analyze drug release effectiveness in an in vitro model at UTRGV (i.e., secondment) to be used for a biologic assessment in the returning phase at the UNIPI. The multidisciplinary approach (engineering, biology, materials and medical sciences), will accelerate the development of innovative clinically oriented prototypes and will contribute to the ER’s scientific and personal.

MobiliTy investigates Middle and early Upper Palaeolithic human organisation to exploit the landscape resources in NW Tuscany. Hunter-gatherers (HGs) mobility patterns are understood to be in a spectrum between residential and logistical mobility. HGs have shown to have site-furniture, personal and situational gear, with different levels of manufacture and maintenance curation. Around 40 ka cal BP a technological and human species shift occurred in Europe, referred as the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic Transition. The northern Tyrrhenian region is one of the few European areas that yielded a cluster of last Neanderthal sites and the presence of early H. sapiens. It is a required passage between southern France and the rest of the Italian Peninsula, and the further investigation of this area could shed light on the colonisation process of H. sapiens and its relationship with the demise of H. neanderthalensis. The sites in NW Tuscany are showing a different raw material provisioning, in particular early H. sapiens introduced the exotic Scaglia Marchigiana chert, showing a long-extended network that spans from NW Italy until the central eastern Apennines. The action is an interdisciplinary endeavour to better understand differences of land-use patterns and reconstructing mobility patterns in the NW Tuscany across the Middle-Upper Transition period, through the technological analysis of the artefacts and the definition of raw material circulation.