Prof. Dr. Francesca Paradisi is first supervisor of DC number 11. Additionally, she is a member of the Recruitment Committee and in charge of Data Mangement.
Prof. Paradisi graduated with a BSc and then a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Bologna. In 2002 she joined the group of Prof. Engel at University College Dublin for her post doc and started working in the area of Biocatalysis. She joined the faculty of the School of Chemistry in UCD in 2006 where she remained till 2016. She moved to the University of Nottingham as Associate Professor in Biocatalysis and promoted to Full Professor in 2019. In the same year however, she was offered the Chair of Sustainable Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Bern and relocated to Switzerland. Flow-biocatalysis and enzyme immobilization are core technologies of the Paradisi Lab. She is the co-founder of the start-up inSEIT (2022).
Key expertise
The Paradisi group focusses on applied biocatalysis, with a very strong chemical and engineering component. We have a keen interest in the development of alternative biocatalytic strategies for synthetic and industrial applications. Predominantly our research focuses on the use of enzymes (purified or whole cell systems, in free or immobilized form) in synthetic applications, with the specific scope of using them in continuous systems (Flow Biocatalysis). We are working with a variety of enzymes encompassing oxido-reductases, transferases, hydrolases, decarboxylases etc.
Typically, we rely on bioinformatic tools to probe the enzyme structure, chemical synthesis to create key starting materials for enzymatic reactions (but also to further transform enzymatic products), and the versatility of flow technology to enable cascade reactions in a telescoped manner. Scalability of the reactions is a driving force of the team, minimal waste production and the systematic determination of environmental metrics underpins all our projects. We have extensive experience in immobilization of enzymes and we routinely immobilize enzymes on solid supports. This enables the catalysts to be recovered from the reaction medium (if the reaction is in batch), or to pack the catalysts into a column for reactions in continuous flow.
The DCBP at UBERN has Analytical Research Services (ARS) such as high-resolution NMR, X-Ray facilities, Mass spectrometry and protein analysis, for all researchers. Prof. Paradisi’s 5 labs (>300sqm) have been designed with dedicated and connected spaces for biochemistry, microbiology, synthesis, and analytical chemistry. The labs are fully equipped with chromatography systems, HPLC, GC, and Vapourtec flow reactors.
Hosting Institution
The University of Bern (UBERN) is the third largest university in Switzerland and was ranked 104 in the 2025 Times World Universities Rankings. With almost 20,000 students, UBERN covers a wide range of university courses with 39 BSc, 71 MSc and 69 advanced study programs. UBERN has 8 faculties, >150 institutes and 9 inter- and multidisciplinary centers of excellence. The participating department is the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Scienced (DCBP): with 28 research groups covering the fields of Biochemistry, Synthetic and Theoretical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Technology, Electrochemistry, Radio- and Analytical Chemistry.
https://www.dcbp.unibe.ch/index_eng.html
Contact
francesca.paradisi@unibe.ch
University of Bern (UniBe)
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Freiestrasse 3
3012 Bern
Switzerland
https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-paradisi-9b57139
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=W2sbuDAAAAAJ&hl=en
paradisireslab.bsky.social
Relevant Publications
A. I. BenĂtez-Mateos, D. Lim, V. Marchini, D. Roura Padrosa, H. Wu, F. Buono, F. Paradisi “Biocatalytic Reduction of Six-membered Ring Heterocyclic Imines in Continuous Flow” ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering 2025, 13, 5009–5018 10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c09676
E. Broumidis, F. Paradisi “Engineering a Dual-Functionalized PolyHIPE Resin for Photobiocatalytic Flow Chemistry” Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202401912 10.1002/anie.202401912
D. Roura Padrosa, D. Wetzel, S. Hildbrand, P. Tosatti, J. Sedelmeier, K. Puentener, H. Iding, F. Paradisi “Biocatalytic production of (S)- piperazine-2-carboxylic acid: catalyst immobilization and process intensification through continuous flow” OPR&D 2024, 28, 1713-1724 10.1021/acs.oprd.3c00347