Graziella Tocco, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (DISVA), Unit of Drug Sciences, within the Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy. Her teaching activity focuses on Organic Chemistry and Bioconjugation Chemistry.
Her research lies at the intersection of organic and medicinal chemistry and is focused on the design, synthesis, and NMR characterization of novel drug like small molecules for biomedical applications. Her main research interests focus on the discovery of new molecules for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus, particularly α- glucosidase inhibitors for the control of postprandial hyperglycaemia, as well as on HIV drug discovery, developing heterocyclic compounds as allosteric inhibitors of HIV 1 integrase and reverse transcriptase associated RNase H. In 2015, she was awarded a Fulbright Research Scholar Grant to conduct research on the optimization, synthesis of thienopyrimidinone hit compounds and on the elucidation of their mechanism of action as allosteric inhibitors of HIV 1 integrase at The Ohio State University.
She also works on the development of novel psychoactive compounds targeting opioid receptors, studied through both experimental approaches and advanced in silico methodologies.
In addition, her research includes the development of antiparasitic agents acting as ATPase inhibitors against Meloidogyne incognita.
Dr. Tocco conducts her research within an international network and maintains active collaborations with several institutions worldwide, including the National Cancer Institute (USA), The Ohio State University (USA), the National Institutes of Health – NIH (USA), the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry in Prague (Czech Republic), the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ghent University (Belgium), and the University of British Columbia (Canada).