Francesco Cacciola, Ph.D.

Prof. Dr. Francesco Cacciola is Full Professor in Food Chemistry (starting from 01/10/2024) at the Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali of the University of Messina, Italy. Born in Messina in December 1980, he got his High School Scientific Diploma in Messina in July 1999 (final mark: 100/100) and afterwards graduated in Pharmacy with 110/110 cum laude at the University of Messina in 2004, discussing a thesis entitled "Micro/HPLC/ESI/MS for the determination of anthocyanins in red wines". After graduation, from February 2005 to August 2006, he was visiting guest at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemical Technology at the University of Pardubice (Czech Republic) for a stage sponsored by an international project (International Research Training Network) called "Training Young Researchers in Miniaturized Comprehensive Liquid Chromatography" (Acronym Com-Chrom) (Contract No. HPRN-CT-2001-00180) and by "Bonino-Pulejo Foundation" under the supervision of Prof. Ing. Pavel Jandera, DrSc. He developed innovative analytical methods for the two-dimensional separation of polyphenols in beverages and plant extracts. In December 2005 he obtained the qualification to be a pharmacist.

He received his Ph.D. in "Food and Safety Chemistry" at the University of Messina in 2009, defending a thesis entitled "Employment of High Resolution HPLC Techniques for the Analysis of Complex Matrices". In 2009 he was awarded a scholarship to work for one year as post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in College Park, Maryland, USA, under the supervision of Dr. Jeanne Rader. During his research stay, he worked on the characterization of bioactive compounds contained in Stevia rebaudiana extracts by two-dimensional liquid chromatography. From February 2011 to January 2012, he was awarded a scholarship by the Society Chromaleont s.r.l., a spin-off of the University of Messina, for the characterization of polyphenols and the investigation of innovative stationary phases. These researches were performed at the Dipartimento Farmaco-Chimico according to the convention between such Society and "The Mediterranean Separation Foundation Research and Training Center" belonging to the Dipartimento Farmaco-Chimico of the University of Messina. He currently teaches several courses devoted to Food Chemistry at the University of Messina.

He won the "Young Researchers award" in 2008 for the scientific productivity carried out in 2007. He also won two travel grants to attend the "National Symposium on Food Chemistry" in Perugia (Italy) in 2008 and "HPLC 2009" in Dresden (Germany) in 2009, respectively. In September 2018, the international scientific journal "The Analytical Scientist" included him in the international list of the 40 most influential scientists "under 40" in the Analytical Sciences (Analytical Scientist's 2018 Power List "Top 40 under 40") for the application of advanced analytical techniques to the characterization of food and natural products. From 2018: Listed among the Top Italian Scientists according to Google Scholar Database (with h-index >= 30). From 2023, he has been included in the list, made by Stanford University and Elsevier, among the top 2% of Scientists from all over the world in "Chemistry". According to Research.com, for the 2026 Edition of Ranking of Best Scientists in the field of Chemistry, he has been ranked 459 in Italy and 13075 in the world.

Up to September 8th, 2026, he is author and co-author of 291 articles published (275 in indexed international scientific journals), 16 book chapters edited by international publishers, 5 abstracts in international journals and 3 in-extenso contributions in national symposia. He is also author and co-author of 156 oral (32 invited lectures) and 147 poster communications in national and international symposia.

Bibliometric Parameters (as of September 2026): • Total citations: 10,970 (Google Scholar); 8,272 (Scopus) • H-Index: 56 (Google Scholar); 49 (Scopus) • Total Impact Factor: 1,074 (reference IF 2025; 935 publication year IF) • Average Impact Factor: 4.0 (3.4 publication year IF)