Toxic Chemical and Biological Agents: Detection, Diagnosis and Health Concerns

Professor Giovanni Sindona from the Department of Chemistry, University of Calabria (Italy) died on Thursday January 16, 2020. We have lost a dear friend, a scholar and a gentleman. Giovanni was born in Messina, Italy in 9 April 1949 and graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) Chemistry in 1972 at the University of Messina. After completing his PhD in applied to bioanalytical chemistry (mass spectrometry). In 1978, he was awarded he "Alexander von Humboldt foundation Fellowship" from the renowned Institute für Physikalische Chemie of Bonn University. At the beginning of the 80s, was as NATO scholar at the King's college of London under the direction of Professor Colin B. Reese where he developed new strategies for the synthesis of nucleic acids.

In 1990, he became full professor of organic chemistry at the university of Calabria teaching organic chemistry also at the University of Magna Graecia Catanzaro. In his academic career, he held important management offices: He was Dean of the Mathematics, Physics, and Natural Sciences faculty from 1994 to 1997. He directed the department of Chemistry from 1997 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2015 during the establishment of the former Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technologies

From 1990 to 2019, Prof Sindona has organized and directed five NATO International Schools for young researchers on the application of mass spectrometry to biomolecular chemistry held in Italy and abroad. In 2009, he became co-director of many NATO-ASI, Science for Peace and Security Program for experts on the Detection of Biological Agents and Toxins for the Prevention of Bioterrorism in Homeland Security.

Professor Sindona has been member of the Italian Society of Chemistry (SCI), where he was president of the Mass Spectrometry Division and coordinator of the inter divisional group of proteomic; he was president of the SCI Calabria section, and from 1979 he was permanent member of the German foundation "Alexander von-Humboldt"; Professor Sindona was member of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry from 1990. He was awarded of the "Piria Award for research"in 2008, and in 2011 he received the international award "Il Bergamotto" for his studies on the research activity linked to Calabria region.

Dr. Banoub is currently Head and Principal Senior Scientist, Special Projects Section at Fisheries and Ocean Canada (DFO), St. John's. He also holds two joint appointments as adjunct professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry Departments, Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has an active independent research program for over 40 years; during which, he supervised 34 graduate students and contributed to over 200 peer-reviewed publications.

He currently serves as Editor PLOS ONE and Vaccines journals. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Rapid Communication in Mass Spectrometry, Journal of Chromatography B, Journal of Chromatography A, Food Chemistry, Journal of Analytical Sciences, and Methods and Instrumentations.

Dr. Banoub has a rich leadership experience. He served as a Manager of the Environmental Sciences Division (1997-2002) in DFO. He was also frequently appointed to senior executive positions in the Canadian government such as the International Science Strategy Committee which aimed at improving, funding science projects and developing national and international policies for various government departments and industry.

Dr. Banoub was the recipient of the "Dr. Albert R. Cox Research Award" (2002) from the Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University outstanding research on the isolation and structural identification of triterpine glycosides from quillaja saponoria molina and investigation of their adjuvant properties in a herpes simplex vaccine model. He has also received Fred P. Lossing Award for Distinguished contributions to mass spectrometry in Canada, 2012 and the Sir Winfield Templeman Award for Best Research in 2016for his work on Lignomics Analysis.

Maria Luisa Di Gioia (Ph.D., Calabria University) is a Researcher of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences of the University of Calabria. She holds the Italian qualification to Associate Professor in Organic Chemistry. Her research interests include the synthesis and characterization of molecules with potential biological activity. Peptides are an important part of her work.