From Leonardo Santini's intuitions to the identification of arzanol: evolution of research on Helichrysum microphyllum

Federica Pollastro is a professor of Phytochemistry at the University of Eastern Piedmont and has worked on natural bioactive compounds from alimentary, toxic and psychoactive plants. In this area, she is proficient in isolation and structural elucidation of phytochemicals.

She has worked on chemoreception based on sesquiterpene lactones from different species of plant discovering their involvement in nociception (TRPs) and on bitter taste receptor (hTAS2R46). This work gave her the opportunity to find a new compound belonging to the rare class of sesterpenes. Moreover, collaborations led her to the identification of the target and mechanism of action of oenanthotoxin involved in the intoxication that characterises the Sardonic Grin.

She has isolated a new class of non-psychoactive cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa and semisynthetised cannabinoid-quinols which pharmaceutical implication have been studied in Córdoba. She was awarded of the ElSohly award by the American Chemical Society and she is a local coordinator of the EMOTION Master Program.