IN COLLABORATION WITH USOPS, THE ITALIAN SOCIETY OF STUDENTS AND ALUMNI IN PHARMACY AND CTF On 13 December 2018, the presentation of the project “Realization and application of an innovative technological platform powered by QM / MM simulations for the development of photoactivable molecules” was held in the main hall of the San Miniato educational complex and funded by MIUR as the “Department of Excellence 2018-2022” in the chemical area.
Introduced by the department director, Professor Annalisa Santucci, the project was illustrated to the whole community by the coordinators of the various “workpackages”.
At the center, the study and engineering of the photosensitive protein rhodopsin (responsible for the mechanism of vision, present in the retina) for applications of optogenetics, optopharmacology, renewable energies, synthetic biology. Following, prof. Massimo Olivucci, initiator of the research, illustrated his vision on the developments of the years to come. The five-year project, with a total budget of 9 million euros, aims at investments in research, training and technology that create value in human and infrastructure resources, capable of self-financing by providing high qualification services and technologies, and at the same time becoming a international reference point in optogenetics and optopharmacology.
