People

Luca was born and raised in Italy where he obtained his B.Sc. degree in Chemistry at the Sapienza Università di Roma in 2019 working on the synthesis of pyridoxamine 5-phosphate, a natural coenzyme used to investigate the properties of the PLP oxidase. Luca decided to stay in Rome for his master studies and obtained his M.Sc. degree in Chemistry in March 2022. His thesis work focused on the total synthesis of oryzalexin S with a particular interest in the development of a novel photochemical transformation en route towards the natural product. Then, Luca decided to move to the United Stated where he pursues his graduate studies in the Romiti Lab at UT Dallas.

Zurwa was born and raised in Pakistan where she obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry at Punjab University and her M.Sc. degree in Chemistry at Lahore University of Management Sciences. Her Master thesis focused on the preparation of different hetero-bifunctional PEG derivatives for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles bearing specific surface coupling groups. Then, Zurwa decided to move to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. at UT Dallas in the Romiti Lab. Her research interests are total synthesis of complex bioactive molecules and the investigation of their biological activities. Zurwa love sleeping and traveling. She is very scared of dogs and snakes (but Nonino will change her mind about dogs).

Angela was born and raised in Italy. She obtained her B.Sc. degree in Chemistry at Sapienza Università di Roma in 2018 working in the field of Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry for her thesis. She decided to continue her studies at Sapienza Università di Roma where she obtained her M.Sc. degree in Chemistry in 2023 with a thesis work focused on the synthesis of an estrogen derivative with therapeutical properties. Then, Angela decided to move to the United States and join the Romiti Lab to pursue her studies working on the total synthesis of complex bioactive natural products.

Alessandro was born in Carpi in 1998. He obtained his B.Sc. degree in Industrial Chemistry (2020) at the Università di Bologna under the supervision of Prof. Luca Bernardi. He worked with Prof. Arianna Quintavalla for his M.Sc. degree in chemistry (2022) at the Università di Bologna – Alma Mater Studiorum. In November 2022, he joined the Carlone group at the Università degli Studi dell’Aquila to pursue his Ph.D. focusing on the development of sustainable and innovative methodologies for the synthesis, design and screening of drug candidates. Alessandro decided to follow his passion for total synthesis of complex molecules and he joined the Romiti group at UTD as visiting researcher for 6 months.

Born in Italy, he enjoyed the life in the Bel Paese for only few months before going to Strasbourg to complete his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Hoveyda when he was only 3 years old. He then moved to Texas where he accepted the position of Romiti lab mascot. Nonino likes taking naps, food, eating treats, going for walks, lying in the sun and being with his mom.