LORENZO DI RIENZO

Current Position

Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Biochemical Sciences "Alessandro Rossi Fanelli", Sapienza University of Rome [March 2026–present]

Previous Positions

Associate Professor of Biochemistry, UniCamillus [2025–2026]
Adjunct Lecturer, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome [2022–2025]
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Italian Institute of Technology [2020–2025]
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Sapienza University of Rome [2018–2020]

Education

Ph.D. in Life Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome [2015-2019]
M.Sc. in Physics – Biophysics of Biological Systems, Sapienza University of Rome, cum laude [2012-2015]
B.Sc. in Physics, Sapienza University of Rome [2008-2012]

Main Research Interests

My research focuses on the computational investigation of biomolecular interactions and on the development of computational methods to describe, predict, and modulate their properties. I am particularly interested in the structural, dynamical, and physicochemical determinants of molecular recognition, binding, and protein stability. My work combines structural bioinformatics, molecular dynamics simulations, and Monte Carlo-based approaches to develop quantitative methods for the characterization of biomolecular interfaces and the investigation of protein–protein and protein–ligand interactions. A major focus is the development of computational strategies for protein design, aimed at rationally modifying molecular interfaces to control binding specificity and affinity. These approaches have been applied to antibody–antigen recognition, protein-binding peptides, and the engineering of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) with tailored ligand recognition properties, as well as to the study of viral proteins and proteins involved in amyloidosis and neurodegenerative diseases.