Paola Branduardi  

Financed projects (competitive grant):

REPLAY – REconnecting PLAstics life cycle to biogeochemical cycles by sustainable hydrolysis and Yeasts fermentation (PRIN 2020SBNHLH), website: https://indbiotechlab.btbs.unimib.it/replay/
Role: Project Coordinator

The National Center 5 “National Biodiversity Future Center”
(Award Number: Project code CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, CUP H43C22000530001,
Project title: National Biodiversity Future Center – NBFC.
Funder: Project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment.

Role: Coordinator of Action 3 (Biotechnology) within Spoke 6, and responsible of Spoke 6 activities for the University of Milano-Bicocca

MUSA – Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action – project, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) Mission 4 Component 2 Investment Line 1.5: Strenghtening of research structures and creation of R&D “innovation ecosystems”, set up of “territorial leaders in R&D”

Role: Coordinator of Task 2.2 within Spoke 1

Industrial projects:

Pirelli Tyre
a) Design of environmental-friendly rubber composites driven by biodegradability assessment
b) Enzyme-mediated approach for tuning the polarity of cellulose as a reinforcing filler in elastomeric compounds

SIPCAM-OXON
Production of enzymes and microbial biomass and design of natural agropharmaceuticals for agro-industrial applications

Indena 
Synthetic biology applied to the biomanufacturing of plant natural products of pharmaceutical interest

Valorisation of cotton post-industrial textile waste into lactic acid: chemo-mechanical pretreatment, separate hydrolysis and fermentation using engineered yeast
Simonetti M., Butti P., Di Lorenzo R.D., Mapelli V., Branduardi P.
Microbial Cell Factories, 2024

A novel laccase from Trametes polyzona with high performance in the decolorization of textile dyes
Bucchieri D., Mangiagalli M., Martan F., Serra I., Branduardi P.
AMB Express, 2024

Towards biotechnological production of bio-based low molecular weight esters: a patent review
Zago, M; Branduardi, P; Serra, I.
RSC Advances, 2024

Iron bioleaching and polymers accumulation by an extreme acidophilic bacterium
Marchetti A., Kupka D., Senatore V.G., Hredzák S., Lotti M.
Archives of Microbiology, 2024

Exploring yeast biodiversity and process conditions for optimizing ethylene glycol conversion into glycolic acid
Senatore V. G., Milanesi R., Masotti F., Serra I., Branduardi P.
FEMS Yeast Research, 2024

View more

Paola Branduardi is Professor in Chemistry of Fermentation and Industrial Microbiology, JOINED the University of Milano Bicocca IN 2000. Since 2021 she is the University Representative of the JRU IBISBA-IT, since 2022 IT deputy in the Circular Bio-based Europe (CBE-JU), and since July 2024 Chair of the Microbial Biotechnology Division of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).

Paola Branduardi is interested in the development of bioprocesses based on residual biomass & microbial metabolism as in the concept of biorefineries and biomanufacturing. This is pursued by tailoring microbial strains, mainly but not exclusively Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces yeasts, for the production of fine and bulk chemicals, biofuels, nutraceuticals. Synthetic biology, metabolic & bioprocess engineering, screening protocols and adaptive laboratory evolution are the approaches used to leverage microbial potential, including robustness against stress, to match industrial requirements.
The research in her group is supported by grants from funding agencies and industrial partners. Co-founder and CSO of two University spin-off companies, she filed several patent applications (7 obtained the PCT status).
Paola has broad teaching experience ranging from basic teaching at bachelor level to graduate and PhD training in the fields of life microbiology, industrial biotechnology, synthetic and metabolic engineering. Outreach activities and RRI principles are embedded in research lines and teaching mode.