Director
Dott. GIOVANNI MAGA
Email: direttore.dsb@cnr.it
Phone number: 0649932529
Profile
Dr. G. Maga has been working since his graduation on the enzymology of DNA replication. His research has focused on the characterization of different enzymatic systems responsible for nucleotide metabolism and the duplication of the genetic information in human cells and viruses. Presently his main lines of research are: 1) Enzymology of DNA replication and repair in eukaryotic cells; 2) Novel antiviral strategies against human viruses (HIV, HCV, influenza, arboviruses, SARS-CoV-2); 3) Novel targets and drugs for anticancer chemotherapy
Dr. Maga coordinates the technological platform for drug screening at the IGM-CNR, which offers services of target identification, cloning, expression and purification of cellular and viral proteins, enzymatic assays setup and optimization, screening of small molecules in vitro and in cell culture, mechanism of action determination.
Dr. Maga wrote several popular science books for the Italian audience: "Occhio ai Virus" (Zanichelli, 2014, 2nd ed. 2021) awarded with the National Prize for Popular Science in the health sciences category; "AIDS: la verità negata" (Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore, 2015), awarded with the Literary Prize Franz Kafka in the essays category and "Batteri spazzini e virus che curano: come le biotecnologie riscrivono la vita" (Zanichelli, 2016). "Quando la cellula perde il controllo" (Zanichelli ,2019). "Pandemia e Infodemia" (Zanichelli 2022). Dr. Maga is active in science popularization through mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio and TV broadcasts) and often gives lectures in secondary schools about virology and biotechnology.
Dr. Maga is Academic Editor of PLoS ONE and Academic Editor of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. He acted as CNR representative within the EU- G6 working group on pandemic preparedness, is member of the Covid-19 Advisory Committee to the CNR General Director, CNR representative within the National Bioethics Committee and member of the National Ethics Committee for Clinical Studies.
Dr. Maga is author/co-author of 276 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, his H-index is 54 with 10657 citations (Scopus).