GERMANO' Maria Paola

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

1984-1988: First Class Degree in Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Messina, Italy. Grade: 110 out 110 cum laude
1989-1993: PhD in Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Messina, Italy.
1993-2000:Postdoctoral Fellow, Pharmaco-Biological Department, School of Pharmacy, University of Messina.
June 2000-November 2019: Lecturer (BIO/15) School of Pharmacy, University of Messina.
02-12-2019/09-01-2022: Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Chemical, Biological Pharmaceutical and Enviromental Sciences, University of Messina
10-01-2022/present): Full Professor of Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Enviromental Sciences, University of Messina



MAIN RESEARCH AREAS

• Biological activities of plants used in Traditional Medicine of Africa.
• Isolation and characterization of derivatives from different species along with the assessment of their effects on angiogenesis using in vivo models.
• Identification of species as promising sources of antioxidants and tyrosinase inhibitors, which could find employment in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical field.

TEACHING

The teaching activity is reported below:

- Plant Biology (L-29) A.A. 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2024/25, 2025/26
- Plant- based Food Supplement (L-61) A.A. 2020/2021, 2021/2022
• Biotecnologie delle Piante medicinali (3 CFU) A.A.2012/13 (5 CFU), 2017/18 e 2018/19
Corso di Laurea magistrale in Farmacia
- Pharmaceutical Biology 6 CFU A.A. 2023/2024, 2024/25, 2025/26
• Pharmaceutical Biology (6/12 CFU) A.A. 2022/2023
• Botanica Farmaceutica Applicata (4 CFU) A.A.2010/11 -2012/2013
• Biotecnologie delle Piante medicinali (4 CFU) A.A. 2013/14
• Biotecnologie vegetali ed applicazioni farmaceutiche (4 CFU) dall’A.A. 2014/15 al 2015/16
• Biotecnologie delle Piante officinali (4 CFU) A.A. 2016/17.
Corso di Laurea in Scienze Farmaceutiche Applicate ai Prodotti per la salute (SFA-PS)
• Biotecnologie vegetali (4 CFU) 2013/14 and 2016/17
Corso di Laurea in Scienze e Tecnologie Erboristiche
• Botanica Farmaceutica Applicata (6 CFU) A.A.2006/07 - 2009/2010
• Fitocosmesi (6 CFU) A.A.2001/02 - 2009/2010
• Preparazioni estrattive di piante officinali (6 CFU) A.A. 2003/04 - 2005/06
• Biotecnologie delle Piante Officinali (4 CFU) A.A. 2005/2006
• Coltivazione delle Piante Officinali (5 CFU) A.A. 2003/04 e 2004/05
• Formulazione dei Prodotti Cosmetici (6 CFU) A.A.2002/03
Corso di Laurea in Informazione Scientifica sul Farmaco
• Farmacognosia e Fitoterapia (6 CFU) A.A. 2002/03 e 2003/2004
Scuola di Specializzazione in Farmacognosia A.A. 2000/01 - 2009/2010.


Member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
Associate Editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology
Referee for the following International Journals:
Phytomedicine, Pharmaceutical Biology, Natural Product Communications, Natural Product Research, BMC Complementary Medicine, Chemistry & Biodiversity, Evidenced Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Arabian Journal of Chemistry, South African Journal of Botany, Plant Biosystems, Heliyon

COLLABORATION.

Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Salerno, Fisciano (SA), Italia
Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Pisa, via Bonanno 33, 56126 Pisa, Italia
University of Cagliari
Département Médicine Traditionnelle - lnstitut National de Recherche en Santé Publique, B.P 1746 Bamako, Mali
Department of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli Zographou, 157 71 Athens, Greece
FCFAR-UNESP - School of Pharmaceutical Sciences - São Paulo State University
Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 3200003, Israel.
Laboratoire d’Obtention des Substances Thérapeutiques (LOST), Département de Chimie, Université des Frères Mentouri-Constantine, 25000 Constantine, Algeria.
Department of Pharmacognosy, Umm Al-Qura University, 21955 Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

FUNDING
PI PRIN PNRR 2022 Prot. P2022SECH4 "Exploiting Cynara spp. by-products as a source of molecules with inhibitory activity on skin-related enzymes"
• PI: 2015-2020 “Plant metabolites and/or plant extracts used in folk medicine of Mali (Africa) as potential therapeutic agents with pro or anti-angiogenic activity” (Research Collaboration with Département Médicine Traditionelle of Bamako, Mali).
• PI: 2016-2017“Anti-angiogenic activity and phytochemical screening of fruit fractions from Vitex agnus-castus L. (Verbenaceae)” (Prof Antonio Imbesi Fundation).
• PI: 2018-2020“Autochthonous sources of secondary metabolites with potential tyrosinase-inhibitory activity"(Prof Antonio Imbesi Fundation).
• PI: 2020-2021 “Endemic species from Nebrodi land as potential sources of bioactive compounds" (Prof Antonio Imbesi Fundation).
PI: 2021-2022” Determination of the anti-tyrosinase activity of phenolic natural products: innovative and combined approach of biological and virtual screening in three-dimensional databases".
• FFABR 2017 ; FFABR 2020