Personal profile
Short presentation
I am Professor of Biophysics at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen, Denmark leading a highly interdisciplinary research team working at the interface between physics, biology and pharmaceutical sciences.
Team website: http://www.vitofodera.com/
Key Scientific Interests
- Protein and peptide self-assembly
- Stability of protein drug formulations
- Sustainable smart materials for drug delivery
- Biophysics of protein-membrane interactions
- Advanced neutron and X-ray scattering for biomolecules
CV
Previous Appointments and Education
2016 November-2023 June: Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
2014 September-2016 October: Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
2012-September/2014-September: Marie Curie IEF Fellow Dept. of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2009-November/2012-September: Research Associate at the Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
2009-January/August: Fellowship at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
2009-March: PhD in Physics. Department of Physical and Astronomical Sciences of the University of Palermo.
2005 – July: Master degree in Physics at the University of Palermo, Italy
2000/2005: Undergraduate student at the Department of Physical and Astronomical Sciences (DSFA) of the University of Palermo, Italy.
Teaching
2014- today: Bachelor Course: Pharmaceutical Physical Chemistry I/II (lectures, lab sessions and excercise classes)
2015- today: Director of the PhD course Analytical Methodology in Protein Formulation Development
Commissions of trust
Member of the steering committee for CPHSAXS, Small Angle X-ray scattering facility at SUND, KU
Member of the Lund Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science (LINXS)
Member of the Teaching board, the Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Member of the Italian Society of Biophysics
Member of the Integrative Structural Biology (ISBUC), UNiversity of Copenhagen.
Current research
We use tools derived from physics and chemistry to address the complexity of nano- and micro-scale systems of biological relevance. We love working with proteins and peptides with the aim of understanding the physics laws ruling their stability, self-assembly mechanisms, and interactions with both biological interfaces and other biomolecules. We aim at translating this fundamental knowledge into novel high-impact applications, with a main focus on creating advanced materials for nano-medicine and drug delivery, improving safety of protein drug formulations and understanding the etiology of protein-related neurodegenerative diseases.
To achieve our goals, we use theoretical frameworks in combination with experiments mainly based on UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray and neutron scattering and optical and electron microscopies. We work in close connection with both international collaborators in academia, large-scale facilities and national and international industrial entities.
Details on our research projects can be found here.
Postdocs
- Samuel Lenton
- Lasse Skjoldborg Krog
- Marco Polimeni
PhD students
- Xuedan Sun
- Inna Brakti
- Xiaoyu Wang
- Gabriele Lo Buglio
- Paolo Accardo
- Tobias Winckler-Carlsen
Master students
- Fosya Hassan Farah
- Abir Badida
- Letizia Picone
- Nasteho Abdulle Mohamed
- Nada Haitham Raslan
Selected Recent Funding
Novo Nordisk Foundation Research Project, 2025-2028 ~3.4 M DKK
Villum Young Investigator Plus Award, 2023-2026, ~4 M DKK
Novo Nordisk Foundation Research Project, 2024-2025 ~2 M DKK
China Scholarship Council, PhD stipend,2022-2025, ~420,000 DKK
Novo Nordisk A/S Industrial PhD 2022-2025 ~2 M DKK
Novo Nordisk Foundation Research Project, 2021-2023 ~2 M DKK
Villum Young Investigator Award, 2018-2025, 8.6 M DKK
Education/Academic qualification
Physics, PhD, University of Palermo
1 Jan 2006 → 17 Mar 2009
Award Date: 17 Mar 2009
Physics, Master Degree, University of Palermo
1 Nov 1999 → 21 Jul 2005
Award Date: 21 Jul 2005
Keywords
- Former Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Biophysics
- Protein Aggregation
- Applied Physics
- Structural Biology
- Physical-Chemistry
- Spectroscopy
- X-ray Scattering
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Research output
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Electrospun Potato Protein Isolate Nanofibers as a Solid Formulation for Improved Aqueous Apparent Solubility of Curcumin
Stie, M. B., Kalouta, K., Sun, X., Yang, N. & Fodera, V., 2026, In: ACS Applied Polymer Materials. 8, 9, p. 6601–6609Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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Ionic-bridge engineered α-lactalbumin nanoparticles integrated into electrospun nanofibers for controlled growth factor delivery and burn wound repair
Si, L., Liu, P., Abbasi, Y. F., Chen, Y., Xu, X., Li, J., Zhu, X., Li, Y., Foderà, V., Cun, D., Guo, X. & Yang, M., 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Nanobiotechnology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Potato Protein Isolate as a Solubility Enhancer of Poorly Water-Soluble Curcumin
Kalouta, K., Ghalibaf, N., Fodera, V. & Stie, M. B., 2026, In: ACS Omega. 11, 15, p. 23035–23045Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)7 Downloads (Pure) -
Rule-based mitigation of charge asymmetry-triggered monoclonal antibody self-assembly
Brakti, I., Henriksen, A., Łucja Tomczak, M., Godsk, S. L., Lenton, S., Foderà, V. & Groenning, M., 2026, In: Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 115, 5, 104212.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
Small angle X-ray scattering reveals phase transition in sodium oleate-cysteine systems for optimized selenium nanoparticles synthesis
Vitale, F., Lenton, S., Piacenza, E., Martino, D. F. C. & Foderà, V., 2026, In: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. 702, 2, 10 p., 138966.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile16 Downloads (Pure) -
Visible-light activated photodegradation of DNA and lipid membranes by nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide-gold nanorods composites
Puleo, G., Ferrara, V., Caselli, L., Sancataldo, G., Fiore, T., Malmsten, M., Licciardi, M., Foderà, V. & Vetri, V., 2026, In: Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry. 476, 16 p., 117107.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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Waterborne electrospun α-lactalbumin/soy protein isolate nanofibers for wound healing
Sun, X., Stie, M. B., Kalouta, K., Xu, X., Li, J., Guo, X., Chen, Y., Yang, M. & Foderà, V., 2026, In: Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces. 265, 11 p., 115706.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Downloads (Pure) -
A low-complexity linker as a driver of intra- and intermolecular interactions in DNAJB chaperones
Hobbs, B., Limmer, N., Ossa, F., Knupling, E., Lenton, S., Fodera, V., Kalverda, A. P. & Karamanos, T. K., 2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 1, 14 p., 5070.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus)27 Downloads (Pure)