Members

Andrea Aramini earned his B.D. degree in 1999 from the Faculty of Chemistry of University of Perugia (Italy) where he held his post-bachelor specialization. After his specialization period, Andrea joined Dompé s.p.a and, from 2002 to 2004, was Medicinal Chemistry Researcher in the Chemistry Dept. of Dompé Research Center in L’Aquila. From November 2004 to 2006 he headed the Chemistry Laboratory and from 2006 Chemistry Department of Dompé Research Centre. In April 2018 Andrea was appointed as Head of Research & Early Development - VP at Dompé S.p.A. A dedicated professional with 10+ years of experience in Drug Discovery, Preclinical Development and Innovation, focus on Ophthalmology, Immuno-oncology, Inflammation, Metabolic disorder and CNS. Andrea’s major scientific achievements concern the research in the medicinal chemistry area, specifically targeted to the rational drug design of novel 7TM-GPCR modulators. Andrea and his collaborators have identified a novel approach to the targeted modulation of peptidergic G-protein coupled receptors, the largest super-family of cellular receptors involved in several diseases belonging to a variety of therapeutic areas.

Farnaz Sotoodeh has obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She is specialised in the field of heterogeneous catalysis for hydrogen storage on LOHCs, and has several years of experience in both academia and commercial research. Farnaz is an expert in synthesising high-performance catalysts. At C2CAT, Farnaz leads the implementation of fundamental discoveries into synthesis of novel and tailor-made catalysts.

Vesna Middelkoop has an interdisciplinary background in Materials Science and Physics and a specialist experience in a variety of materials design, reactor engineering and project management roles. She obtained a PhD degree in the field of synchrotron X-Ray characterization of materials synthesis processes from the University of London in 2010, having worked within the Industrial Materials Group of the University College London, Chemistry Department and Birkbeck College, Crystallography Department. Her expertise lies in materials synthesis and development of chemical reactors and their advanced characterization. She has been working in the R&D industry in London before joining VITO, as a project engineer responsible for the strategic planning and management of projects on instrumental set-ups and materials measurements. Her current research focus is the development of novel structured materials for catalytic conversion and adsorption within EU-funded and industrial contract research projects. More specifically, she is a project lead in several HORIZON 2020 and HORIZON EUROPE projects in the areas of materials design for CO2 utilisation and renewable fuels production (CARMOF, KEROGREEN, ZEOCAT-3D, GLAMOUR, ORACLE, HYSTRAM, STORMING) and is the coordinator of CO2Fokus.