Dr. Marco Di Antonio

Biography

Marco Di Antonio is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London. His research interests focus on the interface of organic chemistry and cell biology, particularly in the rational design and development of small-molecule probes to interfere with endogenous cellular processes. He has a specific interest in targeting DNA and investigates how DNA packaging and chromatin dynamics are affected by healthy aging, aiming to understand the fundamental epigenetic changes associated with aging that trigger age-related disorders. Marco completed his M.Sc. degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Pavia in 2007 and subsequently earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Sciences at Padua University under the supervision of Professors Manlio Palumbo and Mauro Freccero. He gained extensive experience in the synthesis of small molecule ligands with DNA cross-linking activity under physiological conditions during his Ph.D. studies. In 2011, after completing his Ph.D., Marco joined Cambridge University as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, focusing on targeting DNA secondary structures such as G-quadruplexes. His post-doctoral work led to significant contributions in mapping these structures in human cells on a genome-wide scale. Marco was promoted to Senior Research Associate in 2015 and continued to develop live-cell imaging platforms to investigate G-quadruplex formation in real-time within living cells, exploring their potential as cancer therapeutics. He joined Imperial College in December 2017 as a BBSRC David Phillips Fellow, establishing his research group in 2018 and later becoming a Lecturer in 2022.

Research Interests