Flaviana Di Lorenzo
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=59524071400
orcid ID 0000-0003-4821-0114
Current Position: Flaviana Di Lorenzo, PhD, is Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. She is also affiliated with CEINGE – Advanced Biotechnologies Franco Salvatore, Naples, Italy.
Research activity and interests: Prof. Di Lorenzo is specialized in the structural and functional characterization of bacterial surface glycans. Her research combines advanced mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy and complementary chemical approaches with cellular and immunological models to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial glycan-host interactions. A major focus of her current research is the chemical diversity of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) produced by the human microbiota and how specific structural signatures influence innate immune recognition and host–microbiome communication. Her work has led to several publications in peer-reviewed international journals and to the award of an ERC Starting Grant (DEBUGGING-LPS), an ERC Proof of Concept Grant (LPS-Pro), PRIN (coordinator) and PRIN-PNRR projects, and a bilateral Italy-Germany research project (coordinator) funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI). She received the Alois H. Nowotny Award in 2024 and was elected Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, Chemistry Division, in 2026.
Ongoing Research funding’s projects:
European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant – DEBUGGING-LPS (2022–2028). The project investigates the structural diversity and immunological properties of LPS produced by the human gut microbiota, with the aim of redefining the molecular principles governing LPS-mediated host–microbiome interactions.
European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept – LPS-Pro (awarded 2026). The project aims to translate microbiome LPS chemistry into a mass spectrometry-based platform for profiling inflammatory signatures directly from biological samples.
MSCA Doctoral Network – GLYCOAXIS (awarded 2026). Coordinator of the European doctoral network focused on Gram-negative bacterial surface glycans and their roles along the gut-immune-brain axis.