Founders

Daniele Catalucci, PhD

Molecular Biologist, DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER

Daniele, is a molecular biologist by training. Over the years, he has developed a keen interest in the molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac diseases with the ultimate goal of creating new and more selective therapeutic solutions for the treatment of failing hearts. He has been a tenured researcher at the Italian National Research Council (CNR) since 2007, and he is currently appointed as Research Director at the Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research (IRGB). He also serves as principal investigator at Milan’s Humanitas Research Hospital.

Daniele holds an Italian PhD in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Tor Vergata as well as a biological degree from the University of Roma Tre, Italy. His postdoctoral research was carried out at the University of California San Diego in the United States while his PhD studies were completed at the IRBM-Merck in Italy.

Claudio De Luca, PhD, MBA

Life Science Executive, CEO AND FOUNDER

Claudio has more than 25 years of cross-functional experience & accomplishments in the MedTech and BioTech industries, serving in a variety of leadership positions in product development, clinical research, marketing, business development, and general management. Claudio combines a business-oriented mindset with a solid scientific background. He is committed to make innovation happen and build viable and valuable business.

Before joining NanoPhoria, Claudio was Vice President Strategic Development at Finceramica, a MedThech company active in the regenerative medicine and patient-specific implants fields. Prior to that, Claudio was Business Unit Manager at Fidia Pharmaceutics, where he contributed to the start up and growth of a subsidiary focused on cell-biomaterial advanced therapies for skin, bone and cartilage regeneration, eventually acquired by Anika Therapeutics. Before that, he was  postdoctoral Research Associate at Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California, studying enzyme-based organic chemistry.

Claudio holds an executive MBA from Bocconi School of Management, a PhD in bioengineering and a degree in biological science from the University of Padua.

Michele Iafisco, PhD

Chemist, FOUNDER

Michele is director of research at the Institute of Science, Technology and Sustainability for Ceramics (ISSMC) of the National Research Council (CNR) in Faenza (RA), Italy. He graduated in Chemistry in 2005 from the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Italy in 2005. From the same university, he obtained the PhD degree in Chemical Science in 2009. His research interests include materials science with a focus on nanomedicine, biomineralization, and calcium phosphates.

He has authored more than 150 papers published in international peer-reviewed journals, 18 book chapters, 2 books and 7 patents. He is a member of the editorial board of several international journals (i.e. Scientific Reports, Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology) and expert evaluator for the European Commission and other European research agencies. In 2015 he was recipient of the prize “Ricercatamente 2014” for the best research activity of most promising young researcher “under 35” at the National Research Council of Italy in the field “Chemical Sciences and Materials Technology.

Alessio Alogna, MD, PhD

Cardiologist, FOUNDER

Alessio is cardiologist and clinician Scientist at the Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité, Berlin (Germany) as well as research collaborator at Mayo Clinic, Rochester (MN, USA).  He got his clinical cardiology training at Charité Universitätsmedizin in Berlin (Germany) as well as a PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology from the Medical University of Graz (Austria).  Next to the clinical work, he has been performing late preclinical and clinical studies for more than 10 years, with main fields of interest being myocardial function, heart failure and drug-delivery systems.

Since 2017, he leads his own research group at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and has been supported by the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) as a Clinician Scientist.  He has been serving as principal investigator in several preclinical and clinical studies funded by the European Union (EU), German Research Foundation (DFG) and German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), as well as by industrial partners. He has been recipient of several national and international awards, including  the Young Investigator Award 2022 of the Heart Failure Association from the European Society of Cardiology and the Rudi-Busse Young Investigator Award in experimental cardiology 2015 from the German Cardiac Society.