University

ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2907-5503

Dr. Saccoliti is Tenure Track Researcher, RTT (SSD CHEM-07/A - Pharmaceutical Chemistry) at “Link Campus University”, Rome branch, since 2024.
He graduated in Pharmacy (with honors) at “La Sapienza” University of Rome in 2014. From January 2015 to October 2015, he was a Research Fellow (Type I) at the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies (Prof. Roberto Di Santo’s group) at “La Sapienza” University of Rome. He earned a Ph.D. in Life Sciences (with honors) from at same university in January 2019.
From March 2019 to April 2024, he conducted research as a postdoctoral fellow and as a fellow of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation (March 2021–March 2022) at the D3-PharmaChemistry Line of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa (Dr. Tiziano Bandiera’s group).
In 2025, he atteined the National Scientific Qualification for the position of Associate Professor in the competitive sector 03/D1—Pharmaceutical, Toxicological, and Nutraceutical-Food Chemistry and Technologies.
Dr. Saccoliti’s research focuses primarily on pharmaceutical chemistry, with expertise in the design, synthesis, purification, and characterization of small molecules for use as potential therapeutic agents. In addition, Dr. Saccoliti has participated in chemical biology projects, focusing on the development of chemical probes for use in target deconvolution studies to identify the molecular targets of active compounds in phenotypic assays.
His main research interests include:

• Development of antiviral agents: integrase and/or ribonuclease H inhibitors as potential anti-HIV-1 agents; anti-influenza agents; anti-poliovirus agents; inhibitors of non-structural protein 13 (nsp13), RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), and main protease (Mpro) as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents.
• Identification of antiprotozoal agents: inhibitors of the trypanothione reductase enzyme in trypanosomatid parasites (Leishmania, Trypanosoma); inhibitors of the CYP51 enzyme in trypanosomatids and Naegleria; identification of antimalarial agents.
• Studies on anticancer agents: heparanase inhibitors; histone acetyltransferase (HAT) inhibitors; carbonic anhydrase inhibitors; terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) inhibitors.
• Development of photo-activatable probes for use in photo-affinity labeling (PAL) studies to identify the molecular targets of a CFTR corrector in a cellular model of cystic fibrosis.

Dr. Saccoliti (Scopus ID: 56534042600) authored 33 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals, 2 articles in a national journal, and a book chapter.

Curriculum Vitae