Paola Luciani

Paola Luciani has been appointed Full Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Bern, Switzerland, in 2019. She obtained her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences at the University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy, and subsequently worked as Postdoctoral Fellow at the Research Center for Colloids and Surface Science of the University of Florence, Italy. In 2009 she joined the Drug Formulation and Delivery group headed by Professor Leroux at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, as postdoctoral scientist and as group leader. In 2015 she was appointed Associate Professor for Phospholipids in Drug Development at the Institute of Pharmacy of the University of Jena, Germany (endowed professorship financially supported by Lipoid GmbH).

In 2020 Paola was appointed Director of Studies of the Bachelor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of UniBern. She has been Faculty member of the Gender Equality Committee of the University of Jena from 2016 till 2019. In 2018-2019 she was mentor of the online STEM mentoring platforms for female pupils Cybermentor.de and since 2020 mentor in the SCS Swiss Women in Chemistry Mentorship Program.

Since 2016 she is Associate Editor of the journal Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports (Elsevier) and since 2017 guest member of the APV Focus Group Drug Delivery. In 2019 she has been invited to join the Scientific Advisory Council of the Phospholipid Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany and she became a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Pharmaceutics (MDPI).

Research Interests

Prof. Luciani`s research is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach aimed at designing and developing lipid-based tools as delivery systems for protein, nucleic acids, drugs. Her research interests include also polymer- and peptide-based contrast agents for fluorescence functional imaging in inflammation and cancer.

Her research group is currently working on novel multimodal diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for fibrotic diseases, with a special focus on the molecular mechanisms and the intercellular communication underlying the oral administration of antifibrotic formulations. Additionally, the Luciani group is keen to explore novel modalities for site-specific sustained release, developing novel manufacturing processes for lipid-based depots as an alternative to current technologies for hydrophilic drugs and biomacromolecules.