Simone La Spina was born and raised in Messina, Italy, in 1999, and has always been passionate about nature, science and the mechanisms of how things can influence one another. After a high school diploma, he did his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Università degli Studi di Messina (2018-2022), with a year of Erasmus+ project in Universidad Autonoma de Madrid where, among some core courses of the degree, he carried out the experimental work for his bachelor’s thesis in organic chemistry (Oxidation of formazans with DDQ/MnO2 for the synthesis of MTT analogues). Simone graduated cum laude for a master’s degree in Advanced Molecular Sciences at Università degli Studi di Firenze, with a thesis entitled “Cellulose nanocrystals for the delivery of Au complexes: repurposing of Auranofin,” working on the chemical assembly of a biocompatible antitumoral scaffold. Since September 2025, he’s been part of Nathalie Katsonis’ group “Active Molecular Systems” and of the EVOLVE network, studying the contribution of biphasic systems to the reactivity and formation of prebiotic compounds.
