(May 15) Lucia Banci, Director of the Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM) and Professor of General and Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Florence, was elected member of EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization), an international organization aimed to promote research and scientific collaboration in the field of molecular biology. Banci was elected a few days ago, along with 55 scientists: 45 from Europe and neighboring countries (3 from Italy) and 7 non-European. The research of Lucia Banci, which is among the founders of the CERM, is focused on structural biology in solution through high resolution NMR spectroscopy. New EMBO members, who are part of a scientific community of 1,550 researchers, will help the European research in life sciences, participating in editorial boards of journals published by the organization and committees for the selection of research programs. Lucia Banci’s research work is focused on proteins involved in several pathways responsible for metal homeostasis, and that of copper in particular, on protein import and maturation processes in mitochondria, through metal incorporation and/or oxidative folding. Lucia Banci is providing unique contributions to mechanistic aspects of Systems Biology of metal ions. She is also developing and exploiting an absolutely innovative approach in vaccine design, i.e. Structural Vaccinology, based on the structural characterization of the antigens and of their interaction with antibodies.(red)
