Paolo Roberto is a biotechnologist who graduated with honors (MSc) in Applied Biocatalysis from the University of Tuscia (2011). He obtained a Master’s degree and a PhD in Advanced Biotechnologies, both with honors, from the University of Vigo (Spain) in 2015 and 2017. He has held a permanent position as a Research Scientist at ENEA since 2023, in the Biotechnology Division (Rome).

Paolo Roberto started his research career at the University of Tuscia (Viterbo), where he specialized in the production of monoclonal antibodies for the characterization of the European sea bass immune system. In 2012, he was awarded a three-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant within the project FishforPharma, involving several European research centres. He then moved to Vigo (Spain) to the Institute for Marine Research of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), within the Biotechnology and Immunology Unit, to study the pathogenesis of the foodborne human pathogenic bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila. Here, he used the zebrafish animal model to develop three different infection protocols to characterize the immune responses of zebrafish larvae and to identify the main Aeromonas hydrophila virulence factors. During the three-year period, he also completed two traineeships at the Institut Pasteur and the University of Montpellier to deepen his knowledge of zebrafish larval pathology. In 2014, he was invited as a guest speaker to the 11th International Conference on Aeromonas and Plesiomonas in Montpellier (France).

In 2018, Paolo Roberto obtained a research grant in the Laboratory of Zoology and Animal Biotechnology at the University of Tuscia, where he remained until 2023. During this period, he participated in five research projects: “PRONAT”, identification of bioactive substances from animal specimens (CNCCS Scarl, 2018–2019); “PISCES”, Plastics, Alien Species and Physiology: preliminary investigation of the impacts on ichthyofauna affected by fishing activities in the Civitavecchia area (FEAMP 2014–2020); “ALPHEUS”, Augmenting Grid Stability through Low-Head Pumped Hydro Energy Utilization & Storage (European Union H2020, ongoing); “NANOPISCES”, assessment of the impact of nanoplastics on commercially important fish species (FEAMP 2014–2020); and “SEED TALENT”, assessment of the physiological impacts of nanoplastics on the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a commercially relevant fish species (Unitus-EU). His main research interests focus on blue biotechnology and the ecotoxicology of micro- and nanoplastics using in vitro and in silico approaches.

In 2023 he joined ENEA as a Research Scientist at the Department for Sustainability.

email address: paolo.saraceni@enea.it