Isabella Pisano

Isabella Pisano holds a degree in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology and a PhD in Cellular Biochemistry and Pharmacology from the University of Bari in 2004. After a period of study and research in Italy and abroad on model systems in yeast of mitochondrial diseases, she has been a researcher in Chemistry of Fermentations (CHIM/11) at the Department of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Environment of the University of Bari Aldo Moro since 2008. For the past 15 years she has been a lecturer at the three-year and master’s degree courses in Biotechnology at the University of Bari teaching “Industrial Microbiology,” “Biotechnology of Fermentations,” and for the past 2 years “Biorefineries.” Since 2022, he has held the course in “Chemistry of Industrial Fermentations” as part of the newly established master’s degree program in Industrial Chemistry.

Her research activities are based on the development of new models of biorefineries for the valorization of agro-industrial wastes through integrated approaches of microbial biotechnology, chemoenzymatic transformations and green chemical-physical methods. She holds 5 national and international patents and is Principal Investigator of several industrial research projects in collaboration with biotech or green chemistry companies. Isabella Pisano is a Tutor Lecturer of several industrial PhDs and is also a member of the scientific committee and mentor of several start-ups, companies and public-private partnerships. For the past 5 years, she has been the Third Mission Delegate for the Department of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Environment. Since 2023, she has been the President of the University Center of Excellence for Sustainability on behalf of the Rector of the University of Bari.

Ethanol Production from Cheese Whey

The increasing demand for sustainable practices in industries across the globe has fueled interest in producing biofuels from renewable resources, such as cheese whey.