Dr Varchi graduated in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Bologna in 1998, and in April 2003 she received a PhD in Chemical Sciences from the same University. Since 2002, she has been a researcher at the Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity of the Italian National Research Council in Bologna, where she achieved the position of research director in 2019. Besides, she is an associate researcher at the Department of Nanomedicine of the Houston Methodist Institute (Houston, Texas - USA). Her research focuses on developing biologically active molecules, prodrugs and nanocarrier systems for cancer treatment. She is particularly interested in developing novel, safer and easy-to-scale-up drug carriers able to combine different treatment strategies, such as chemotherapy, immune modulation, photo-, and sono-dynamic therapy. Dr Varchi is the author of more than 90 scientific contributions in peer-reviewed journals, four book chapters and five patents. She is the principal investigator and scientific coordinator of several national and international research projects.