Valeria Costantino
Rector’s Delegate for ERASMUS, Universita Federico II di Napoli
Valeria Costantino is a full professor in organic chemistry and leads the BlueChemistryLab group, which focuses on natural products, drug discovery from microorganisms, and the impact of climate change on cyanobacterial blooms. She has published 119 papers, written numerous reviews, and oversees the Summer School on Natural Products, a key program of the Italian Chemical Society. As Vice-rector for Erasmus Programs and Vice-president of the European University Foundation, she enhances mobility experiences. She is the principal investigator of a MUR-funded transnational program, coordinating a consortium of 34 universities focused on supporting internationalization and strengthening links among the partners through a program of innovative mixed classes (digital and in-person), workshops, mobility of students, teaching, and non-teaching staff.
Research activity and interest: Dr. Costantino’s research group (TheBlueChemistryLab) focuses on exploring the unique biodiversity of natural products from marine sponges and cyanobacteria as lead compounds for pharmacological applications. More recently, the group has applied the chemical knowledge to explore the great biodiversity of cyanobacteria using the OSMAC approach to culture them. Moreover, the group is involved in monitoring cyanoblooms along the Italian coasts and in inland waters within the framework of the PNRR_National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC–The Italian approach: The National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC).