Dr Federica Giordani

Research Associate (Parasitology)

telephone: 0141 330 5276
email: Federica.Giordani@glasgow.ac.uk

MVLS, School of Infection & Immunity, Room 524, Sir Graeme Davies Building, 120 University Place, Glasgow, G12 8TA

Biography

I am a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow with over ten years of expertise in drug discovery and drug resistance related to African animal trypanosomosis (AAT), a wasting livestock disease causing poverty and food insecurity in vast areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

My interest in neglected tropical diseases and the trypanosomoses began at the department of Genetics at the University of Parma, Italy, where, following my Master’s degree in Biological Sciences, I worked as Research Fellow focusing on new treatments for Chagas’ disease and Human African trypanosomiasis. I then moved to the UoG, where in 2011 I received a PhD in parasitology. I have been working at the UoG ever since, first at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology and, currently, at the Centre for Parasitology, developing a broad portfolio of research projects aimed at improving treatment and control of protozoan parasitic diseases, including AAT.

Over the past few years, I has established a long-lasting collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), through its Programme Against African Trypanosomosis (PAAT), using my expertise to help advancing tools and policies to support the progressive control of AAT. I am also contributing to the research on the first new class of compounds being investigated for the treatment of AAT in several decades.

Research interests

Drug discovery targeting parasitic diseases (in particular those caused by Trypanosoma and Leishmania parasites) is my main research interest. Working together with other academic institutions, non-profit organizations and privates, I have contributed to several projects in this field, gathering data on activity, mode of action and mechanism of resistance of new drug candidates, using "omics" techniques and other tools. My current project focuses on Trypanosoma evansi, the pathogenic protozoan causing surra, but over the past years I have also worked on the other relevant animal trypanosomes T. congolense and T. vivax.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2014

Number of items: 15.

2021

Steketee, Pieter C., Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Vincent, Isabel M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2663-4389, Crouch, Kathryn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9310-4762, Achcar, Fiona ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8792-7615, Dickens, Nicholas J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0492-5855, Morrison, Liam J., MacLeod, Annette ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0150-5049 and Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519 (2021) Transcriptional differentiation of Trypanosoma brucei during in vitro acquisition of resistance to acoziborole. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 15(11), e0009939. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009939) (PMID:34752454) (PMCID:PMC8648117)

Brooke, D. P. et al. (2021) Truncated S-MGBs: towards a parasite-specific and low aggregation chemotype. RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 12(8), pp. 1391-1401. (doi: 10.1039/D1MD00110H)

2020

Giordani, F. et al. (2020) Veterinary trypanocidal benzoxaboroles are peptidase-activated prodrugs. PLoS Pathogens, 16(11), e1008932. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008932) (PMID:33141865) (PMCID:PMC7710103)

Dickie, Emily A., Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Gould, Matthew K., Maeser, Pascal, Burri, Christian, Mottram, Jeremy C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5574-3766, Rao, Srinivasa P.S. and Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519 (2020) New drugs for human African trypanosomiasis:a twenty first century success story. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 5(1), 29. (doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed5010029) (PMID:32092897) (PMCID:PMC7157223)

2019

Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Khalaf, Abedawn I., Gillingwater, Kirsten, Munday, Jane C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7792-2749, de Koning, Harry P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9963-1827, Suckling, Colin J., Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519 and Scott, Fraser J. (2019) Novel minor groove binders cure animal African trypanosomiasis in an in vivo mouse model. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 62(6), pp. 3021-3035. (doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01847) (PMID:30763102)

2018

Begolo, D. et al. (2018) The trypanocidal benzoxaborole AN7973 inhibits trypanosome mRNA processing. PLoS Pathogens, 14(9), e1007315. (doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007315) (PMID:30252911) (PMCID:PMC6173450)

Steketee, P. C. et al. (2018) Benzoxaborole treatment perturbs S-adenosyl-L-methionine metabolism in Trypanosoma brucei. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 12(5), e0006450. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006450) (PMID:29758036) (PMCID:PMC5976210)

2017

Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519 and Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X (2017) Inside Doctor Livingstone: a Scottish icon's encounter with tropical disease. Parasitology, 144(12), pp. 1652-1662. (doi: 10.1017/S003118201600202X) (PMID:27928980)

Scott, F. J. et al. (2017) An evaluation of Minor Groove Binders as anti-fungal and anti-mycobacterial therapeutics. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 136, pp. 561-572. (doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2017.05.039)

2016

Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Morrison, Liam J., Rowan, Tim G., De Koning, Harry P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9963-1827 and Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519 (2016) The animal trypanosomiases and their chemotherapy: a review. Parasitology, 143(14), pp. 1862-1889. (doi: 10.1017/S0031182016001268) (PMID:27719692) (PMCID:PMC5142301)

Scott, Fraser J., Khalaf, Abedawn I., Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Wong, Pui Ee, Duffy, Sandra, Barrett, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519, Avery, Vicky M. and Suckling, Colin J. (2016) An evaluation of Minor Groove Binders as anti-Trypanosoma brucei brucei therapeutics. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 116, pp. 116-125. (doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.03.064) (PMID:27060763) (PMCID:PMC4872591)

2014

Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Buschini, Annamaria, Baliani, Alessandro, Kaiser, Marcel, Brun, Reto, Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519, Pellacani, Claudia, Poli, Paola and Gilbert, Ian H. (2014) Characterization of a melamino nitroheterocycle as a potential lead for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 58(10), pp. 5747-5757. (doi: 10.1128/AAC.01449-13)

Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Munde, Manoj, Wilson, W. David, Ismail, Mohamed A., Kumar, Arvind, Boykin, David W. and Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519 (2014) Green fluorescent diamidines as diagnostic probes for trypanosomes. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 58(3), pp. 1793-1796. (doi: 10.1128/AAC.02024-13)

Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Mwenechanya, Roy and Barrett, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519 (2014) Advances in understanding and treatment of human African trypanosomiasis: divergent diseases caused by distinct parasites. In: Padmanabhan, Sandosh (ed.) Handbook of Pharmacogenomics and Stratified Medicine. Academic Press, pp. 901-917. ISBN 9780123868824 (doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-386882-4.00039-6)

Khalaf, Abedawn I., Huggan, Judith K., Suckling, Colin J., Gibson, Colin L., Stewart, Kirsten, Giordani, Federica ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9964-281X, Barrett, Michael P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9447-3519, Wong, Pui Ee, Barrack, Keri L. and Hunter, William N. (2014) Structure-based design and synthesis of antiparasitic pyrrolopyrimidines targeting pteridine reductase 1. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 57(15), pp. 6479-6494. (doi: 10.1021/jm500483b)

This list was generated on Thu Sep 11 21:40:34 2025 BST.

Jump to: Articles | Book Sections

Number of items: 15.

Articles

Brooke, D. P. et al. (2021) Truncated S-MGBs: towards a parasite-specific and low aggregation chemotype. RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 12(8), pp. 1391-1401. (doi: 10.1039/D1MD00110H)

Book Sections