Study of structural and bioactivity properties of Nanoparticles

A new research field followed by Dr. Papa is focussed on the application of computational methods to study several properties of Nanoparticles (NPs). NPs are particles or structures, of different shape and composition, with dimensions that fall within the nanoscale (1-100 nm), and are distinguishable in natural (e.g. produced from volcanoes), anthropogenic (e.g. produced by diesel engines), and artificial (e.g. produced by nanotechnology) NPs. Exposure to artificial NPs is a new phenomenon. Possible effects of NPs on humans and the environment are currently poorly understood because of the many gaps in experimental data regarding the physical-chemical properties and toxicity of these materials. In silico models, such as those based on Quantitative structure activity Relationships, are successful tools which can be used to strongly reduce experimental costs and speed up risk assessment procedure. In particular studies performed by Dr. Papa within the QSAR Research Group in Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology are focussed on the application of multivariate analysis and the development of QSAR like models for various properties associated to the structure and the bioactivity of nanoparticles.

E. Papa et al. 2016, RSC Advances 6, 73. E.Papa et al. 2016, SAR and QSAR in Environmental Research 27, 7. E. Papa et al. 2015, SAR and QSAR in Environmental Research 26, 7–9.