Dr Daniele Castagnolo obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Siena (Italy) in 2006 working with Professor Maurizio Botta on the synthesis of antimycobacterial agents and on the development of microwave assisted metathesis reactions. During his doctoral studies he also joined the research group of Professor Johann Mulzer at the University of Vienna (Austria) as visiting PhD student, working on the synthesis of the Branimycin side chain.

 After completing his Ph.D., Daniele was appointed as postdoctoral research associate at the Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) in the group of Professor Petri Pihko, where he worked on the development of Brønsted acid catalytic reactions for the synthesis of non-anomeric [6.5]-spiroketals. In 2008 Daniele moved back to the Universiy of Siena as Research Fellow, working on the development of new metal-catalyzed alkyne reactions for the synthesis of drug-like compounds and on the identification of novel antifungal and antiviral agents. Finally, he completed his postodoctoral studies at the University of Manchester (UK) working in the research group of Professor Jonathan Clayden on the synthesis of tertiary thiols, and collaborating with Dr. Simon Webb at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) on the study of peptides through Raman spectroscopy. In 2012, Daniele started his independent research at Northumbria University where he was appointed Lecturer in Chemistry in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Finally, in September 2015, Daniele moved to King's College London where he is currently carrying out his research in the field of medicinal chemistry and infectious diseases.

Dr Castagnolo research interests range widely from organic synthetic chemistry to medicinal chemistry and biology, and are mainly focused on the design and discovery of small molecules endowed with biological activity, and on the development of new green and sustainable reactions for the synthesis of drug-like compounds. Dr Castagnolo current research aims to identify novel bioactive molecules active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, drug-resistant bacteria and Flaviviridae (HCV, ZIKV). Dr Castagnolo is also interested in the development of novel biocatalytic methods for the manufacturing of enantiomerically pure sulfur compounds as well as nitrogen heterocycles.