iQSAR Lab team

Principal Researcher

Dr. Maria Galvez Llompart earned her Ph.D. from the Universitat de Valencia (UV) in 2016, focusing on computer-aided drug design. Her Ph.D. thesis used QSAR modeling and graph theory to identify novel anti-inflammatory compounds.

From 2016 to 2019, she joined the research group of Profs. Alejandro Pérez García and Diego Romero Hinojosa at the “La Mayora” institute (UMA-CSIC), applying computational techniques to the agro-food sector.

She was awarded the "Atracció de Talents" prize by UV, allowing her to complete a postdoctoral stay at the University of Bologna in 2019, focusing on receptor-based drug design in the computational laboratory of Prof. Recanatini.

In 2019, she won another postdoctoral grant from the Generalitat Valenciana and joined the Instituto de Tecnología Química (ITQ) – (CSIC). She joined the research group led by Prof. Fernando Rey where she applied QSAR methodologies to identify structure-directing agents for zeolite synthesis. In 2020, she completed a postdoctoral stay at the University of Bologna in the computational chemistry laboratory of Prof. Cavalli, where she refined her skills in pattern recognition and machine learning, later applying them to material design.

 In December 2021, she joined the company Idener (https://idener.ai/about-us) as a researcher expert in computational molecular design and worked in the EU project "SECRETed."

In February 2023, she became Assistant Professor at UV, working on two national projects in the Agro-food sector. 

Fellow Researcher

Dr. Riccardo Zanni is a distinguished Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Physical Chemistry at the University of Valencia (UV), where he is an integral member of the Molecular Topology and Drug Design Unit (MTDDU) research group. 

He obtained his Ph.D. from the Universitat de Valencia (UV) in 2015, thanks to his thesis on the development of computer-aided drug design based strategies for the design of chemo preventive agents for colorectal cancer associated with ulcerative colitis.

During his thesis, from 2012 to 2014 he joined the MTDDU as fellow research in the project "Computer-assisted analysis of physical, chemical, and biological properties of chemical compounds" in collaboration with the US company Medysin Tech. 

In 2016 he joined the research group of Prof. Alejandro Pérez García at the “La Mayora” institute (UMA-CSIC), applying computational techniques to the agro-food sector. This collaboration keeps active nowadays thanks to the actual project: "Modelos metabólicos de la interacción melón-Podosphaera xanthii y desarrollo de tecnologías innovadoras para el control de oídios" and led to the discovery and patent of several, novel fungicides. 

His research is documented in relevant and diverse fields, including: Neurodegenerative Diseases,  Infectious Diseases, Oncology and of course, Food and Agrochemistry. 

Dr. Zanni is a prolific author with several publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed international journals. His work is characterized by a strong synergy between methodological innovation and practical application.