Luisa Torsi Explained

Luisa Torsi
Birth Place:	Bari
Alma Mater:	University of Bari Bell Labs
Workplaces:	University of Bari

Luisa Torsi (born 1964) is an Italian chemist who is a professor at the Università degli Studi di Bari. She was the first woman to serve as President of the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS). In 2019 she was named by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry as one of the world's most Distinguished Women in Chemistry.^[1]

Early life and education

Torsi was born in Bari.^[2] She earned her undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Bari. Torsi has said that she realised that she wanted to be a researcher during her master's research project.^[3] She remained there for her graduate studies, switching specialties to chemical sciences. In 1994 Torsi moved to the United States, where she joined Bell Labs as a postdoctoral researcher. During her postdoctoral research Torsi investigated organic field-effect transistors .

Research and career

She returned to Italy in 1993, when she was made Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry.^[4] In 2005 Torsi was made a full Professor of Chemistry.^[5] Her research considers organic semiconductors and their application in electronic devices.^[6] She has developed single molecule transistors that are capable of label-free disease detection. The device was capable of detecting zeptomolar concentrations.^{[7] [8]} The discovery launched the Horizon 2020 project SiMBiT,^[9] a bio-electronic system that looks to achieve single molecule detection of biomarkers for point-of-care testing.^{[10] [11] [12]} Torsi looks to use nanoparticle based sensor to detect toxic gases.^[13]

In 2015 Torsi delivered a TED talk at TEDxBari, where she discussed resilience.^[14] Torsi serves on the editorial board of ACS Omega.^[15]

Awards and honours

• 2010 Henrick Emmanuel Merck international award^[16]
• 2015 Global-Women Inventors and Innovators Network Platinum Prize^[17]
• 2016 Elected President of the European Materials Research Society
• 2017 Elected Fellow of the Materials Research Society^[18]
• 2018 Italian Chemical Society SCI Silver Medal
• 2019 Alto Riconoscimento "Virtù e Conoscenza"^[19]
• 2019 European Chemical Society Robert Kellner Lecturer
• 2019 Elected to the Board of Directors of the Leonardo Foundation^[20]
• 2021 Wilhelm Exner Medal^{[21] [22]}

Selected publications

• Dodabalapur. A.. Torsi. L.. Katz. H. E.. 1995-04-14. Organic Transistors: Two-Dimensional Transport and Improved Electrical Characteristics. Science. 268. 5208. 270–271. 10.1126/science.268.5208.270. 17814790. 32124694. 0036-8075.
• Cioffi. Nicola. Torsi. Luisa. Ditaranto. Nicoletta. Tantillo. Giuseppina. Ghibelli. Lina. Sabbatini. Luigia. Bleve-Zacheo. Teresa. D'Alessio. Maria. Zambonin. P. Giorgio. Traversa. Enrico. 2005. Copper Nanoparticle/Polymer Composites with Antifungal and Bacteriostatic Properties. Chemistry of Materials. 17. 21. 5255–5262. 10.1021/cm0505244. 0897-4756.
• Torsi. Luisa. Magliulo. Maria. Manoli. Kyriaki. Palazzo. Gerardo. 2013. Organic field-effect transistor sensors: a tutorial review. Chemical Society Reviews. 42. 22. 8612–28. 10.1039/c3cs60127g. 24018860. 0306-0012.

References

1. Web site: 2019-02-07. Awardees of the IUPAC 2019 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering. 2020-08-02. IUPAC International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. en-US.
2. Web site: Luisa Torsi. 2020-08-02. Archivio - la Repubblica.it. it.
3. Oberbeckmann-Winter. Nicola. 2020-08-01. Robert Kellner Lecture awarded to ABC author Luisa Torsi. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. en. 412. 21. 4997–4999. 10.1007/s00216-019-02373-1. 1618-2650. free.
4. Book: Luisa Torsi. English. 4779423923.
5. Web site: Curriculum — Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro. 2020-08-02. Universita' degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro.
6. Web site: Luisa Torsi. 2020-08-02. Archivio - la Repubblica.it. it.
7. Macchia. Eleonora. Manoli. Kyriaki. Holzer. Brigitte. Di Franco. Cinzia. Ghittorelli. Matteo. Torricelli. Fabrizio. Alberga. Domenico. Mangiatordi. Giuseppe Felice. Palazzo. Gerardo. Scamarcio. Gaetano. Torsi. Luisa. 2018-08-13. Single-molecule detection with a millimetre-sized transistor. Nature Communications. en. 9. 1. 3223. 10.1038/s41467-018-05235-z. 30104563. 6089965. 2041-1723. free.
8. 2018-08-16. A sensor detects the light touch of a single molecule. Nature. en. 560. 7719. 413. 10.1038/d41586-018-05950-z. 30131535. 52055296. free.
9. Web site: paolo. 2019-01-10. INAUGURATO IL PROGETTO "SIMBIT" Agenzia di stampa Italpress. 2020-08-02. Italpress. it-IT.
10. Web site: SiMBiT project EMRS. 2020-08-02. www.european-mrs.com.
11. Web site: Torsi Luisa. 2020-08-02. www.chimica.uniba.it. it-it.
12. Macchia. Eleonora. Anna Picca. Rosaria. Manoli. Kyriaki. Franco. Cinzia Di. Blasi. Davide. Sarcina. Lucia. Ditaranto. Nicoletta. Cioffi. Nicola. Österbacka. Ronald. Scamarcio. Gaetano. Torricelli. Fabrizio. 2020. About the amplification factors in organic bioelectronic sensors. Materials Horizons. en. 7. 4. 999–1013. 10.1039/C9MH01544B. free.
13. Web site: Luisa Torsi eletta presidente dell'E-MRS. 2020-08-02. www.instm.it.
14. Web site: TEDxBari TED. 2020-08-02. www.ted.com.
15. Web site: ACS Omega. 2020-08-02. pubs.acs.org. en.
16. Web site: Heinrich Emanuel Merck Award for 2010 granted to leading Italian scientist. 2020-08-02. www.chemeurope.com. en.
17. Web site: Luisa Torsi's printable biological sensor wins European Woman Inventor of the Year Award 2015 – GLOBAL WOMEN INVENTORS & INNOVATORS NETWORK. 2020-08-02. en.
18. Web site: List of MRS Fellows Materials science awards. 2020-08-02. mrs.org.
19. Web site: Alto riconoscimento "Virtù e conoscenza" 2019. 2020-08-02. LeccePrima. it.
20. Web site: Topolino celebra la scienza al femminile. 2020-08-02. Fondazione Leonardo - Civiltà delle Macchine. en.
21. Web site: Wilhelm Exner Medals 2021 go to Katalin Karikó and Luisa Torsi . 2021-03-31.
22. Web site: Wilhelm Exner Medaillen 2021 an Katalin Karikó und Luisa Torsi. 2021-03-31. OTS.at. de.