Daniele Dell'Orco

I have a long-standing expertise in protein biochemistry, molecular biophysics, structural bioinformatics and systems biology. My current research interests concern mostly (neuronal) calcium sensors and the mechanisms by which these proteins regulate complex molecular processes, such as the phototransduction cascade in vertebrates. I am also interested in studying the interaction between proteins and nanodevices, such as nanoparticles and nanovesicles, and in their potential application in nanomedicine.

I was trained in several laboratories in Sweden, Germany and Italy and I am currently collaborating with several national and international groups. By integrating a variety of experimental and computational approaches at the system level, I have been investigating for many years the molecular mechanisms underlying phototransduction in retinal photoreceptors and its regulation by second messengers (Ca2+ and cGMP) under normal conditions and in those related to genetic diseases, such as retinal dystrophy.

I have been a tenured Assistant Professor (2011) and since 2017 I have been appointed as an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Bioinformatics at the University of Verona, where I have established a small but productive laboratory focused on the investigation of biomedical topics from a molecular perspective. I am a tutor of PhD students within the PhD programme in Biomolecular Medicine, and a supervisor of several bachelor and master undergraduate students.

Like almost all scientists, I love my job and hate bureaucracy. I especially enjoy being surrounded by motivated students because I often find that I learn at least as much from them as I try to teach them. I am incurably enthusiastic about basic science and a firm believer in the simple idea that what we can't explain simply enough, we simply don't understand.