Rate My Professor Elena Dallerba

Dr. Elena Dallerba is an early career academic in the discipline of Chemistry at Curtin University, affiliated with the School of Molecular and Life Sciences in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry at Curtin University in 2022, following her doctoral studies from 2018 to 2021. Her research operates at the interface of bioinorganic chemistry, microscopy, cell biology, polymer chemistry, and photophysics. Dallerba's academic interests encompass the coordination chemistry of rhenium(I) and iridium(III) tetrazole complexes, exploring their photophysical properties and applications in optical imaging of brain tissue. She investigates fluorescent probes for neuroscience, including imaging ex vivo brain tissue sections and lipid droplet trafficking and biogenesis. Additional focuses include cryo-correlative light and X-ray microscopies for expanding intracellular chemical mapping, synchrotron micro-FTIR spectroscopy for lipid composition analysis in brain tissue, and RAFT polymerization for synthesizing functional copolymers and hybrid luminescent materials. Her work also covers neutral rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes with sulfur-donor ligands for anti-proliferative activity and cellular localization, as well as GPR119 agonists for treating type-2 diabetes and obesity, including their preclinical pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicity.

Dallerba has authored or co-authored over 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Key works include 'Fluorescent probes for neuroscience: imaging ex vivo brain tissue sections' (2024), 'Preclinical pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicity of novel small-molecule GPR119 agonists to treat type-2 diabetes and obesity' (2024), 'Neutral Rhenium(I) Tricarbonyl Complexes with Sulfur-Donor Ligands: Anti-Proliferative Activity and Cellular Localization' (2024), 'A fluorescent and solvatochromic 1,8-naphthalimide probe for detection of lipid droplet trafficking and biogenesis' (2023), 'Synthesis, photophysical and biological properties of tricarbonyl Re(I) diimine complexes bound to thiotetrazolato ligands' (2023), 'Tetrazole as a Carboxylic Acid Isostere and the Synthesis of All Amine-Based Polyampholytes' (2022), and 'Well-Defined Tetrazole-Functional Copolymers as Macromolecular Ligands for Luminescent Ir(III) and Re(I) Metal Species: Synthesis, Photophysical Properties and Application in Bioimaging' (2022). As an Associate Lecturer and Research Associate, she contributes to teaching as a laboratory demonstrator and workshop facilitator for Bachelor and Honours Chemistry degree units.