Rita Scarpelli studied at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ (Italy) where she earned her Degree in Chemistry (1995) and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (1998). She joined then the group of Professor K.C. Nicolaou at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, (CA, USA) as Postdoctoral Research Associate. After this experience, she moved to the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ (Italy) where she became Researcher (C06X) at the Department of Chemical Science and Technologies (2000). In 2001, she started her carrier in the pharmaceutical industry, joining the Medicinal Chemistry Department of Merck Sharp & Dohme at Istituto di Ricerche di Biologia Molecolare (IRBM)-Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) in Pomezia (Rome, Italy) as Senior Research Chemist. In IRBM-MRL, she worked on different drug discovery programs and gave key contributions, as team member, to the discovery of two drugs, currently on the market: Raltegravir - Isentress® (antiviral, HIV integrase inhibitor) and Niraparib - Zejula® (anti-cancer, poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase inhibitor). In late 2009, she joined Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genoa (Italy), as Team Leader in Medicinal Chemistry. Since then, her research activity has been focused on the identification of new potential drugs for the treatment of inflammatory, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Some of these projects have been funded by international Industrial Partners. She is currently the Coordinator of the Medicinal Chemistry and Technologies for Drug Discovery and Delivery (MCTD3) Facility at IIT. Dr. Scarpelli is currently an author in 45 papers published in leading international journals and an inventor in 22 granted patents.
Rita Scarpelli
Medicinal Chemistry And Technologies for Drug Discovery and Delivery
Telefono
+39 010 2896 233
Research center
CCT@Morego
Biografia
All Publications
2022
Ugolini A., Mongiardini V., Vecchio D., Scarpelli R., Grimaldi B.
Bactericidal-Autophagy Inhibitors to Treat Recurring Uropathogenic Infections and Cancer (P209). XXVII EFMC-ISMC 2022, September 4-8, 2022 - Nice (France)
EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry
Poster
Conference
2022
Greco R., Demartini C., Zanaboni A.M., Francavilla M., Reggiani A., Realini N., Scarpelli R., Piomelli D., Tassorelli C.
Potentiation of endocannabinoids and other lipid amides prevents hyperalgesia and inflammation in a pre-clinical model of migraine
Journal of Headache and Pain, vol. 23, (no. 1)
2020
Caputo S., Di Martino S., Cilibrasi V., Tardia P., Mazzonna M., Russo D., Penna I., Summa M., Bertozzi S.M., Realini N., Margaroli N., Migliore M., Ottonello G., Liu M., Lansbury P., Armirotti A., Bertorelli R., Ray S.S., Skerlj R., Scarpelli R.
Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of a Series of Oxazolone Carboxamides as a Novel Class of Acid Ceramidase Inhibitors
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 63, (no. 24), pp. 15821-15851
2020
Di Martino S., Tardia P., Cilibrasi V., Caputo S., Mazzonna M., Russo D., Penna I., Realini N., Margaroli N., Migliore M., Pizzirani D., Ottonello G., Bertozzi S.M., Armirotti A., Nguyen D., Sun Y., Bongarzone E.R., Lansbury P., Liu M., Skerlj R., Scarpelli R.
Lead Optimization of Benzoxazolone Carboxamides as Orally Bioavailable and CNS Penetrant Acid Ceramidase Inhibitors
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 63, (no. 7), pp. 3634-3664
2016
Scarpelli R., Sasso O., Piomelli D.
A Double Whammy: Targeting Both Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH) and Cyclooxygenase (COX) To Treat Pain and Inflammation
ChemMedChem, pp. 1242-1251
Scientific Talks
2022
Scarpelli R., Di Martino S., Tardia P., Cilibrasi V., Caputo S., Mazzonna M., Russo D., Penna I., Realini N., Margaroli N., Migliore M., Pizzirani D., Ottonello G., Mandrup Bertozzi S., Armirotti A., Nguyen D., Sun Y., Bongarzone E. R., Lansbury P., Liu M., Skerlj R.
Identification of ARN21641, an orally available and CNS penetrant Acid Ceramidase inhibitor with target engagement in mouse models of Gaucher and Krabbe diseases
27th National Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry (NMMC27) - Invited Talk
Conference
2013
Scarpelli R.
Peripherally-restricted FAAH inhibitors as potential analgesic agents
31st Camerino-Cyprus-Noordwijkerhout Symposium, Receptor Chemistry Skyline. Camerino, Italy
Conference
Colleagues of Medicinal Chemistry And Technologies for Drug Discovery and Delivery