Professor Maria Zappalà has been Full Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences of the University of Messina since 2002, where she teaches Medicinal Chemistry II within the Degree Course in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology. She has held several key academic leadership roles, including President of the Degree Course in Pharmacy (2008–2013) and in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology (2021–2025), Head of the Department of Drug Sciences and Products for Health (2014–2015), and member of the Academic Senate (2014–2015). Her scientific activity, documented by more than 180 peer-reviewed publications, 2 patents, and over 150 conference contributions, initially focused on the design of novel antitumor and anti-HIV agents. She subsequently expanded her research to the field of non-competitive AMPA receptor antagonists. Currently, her research is devoted to two main areas: (1) the design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of peptidomimetic inhibitors of proteasome and immunoproteasome; (2) the design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of peptide-based compounds targeting human, viral, and protozoal cysteine proteases.