**About the Special Issue Editors**

**Marcello Locatelli** earned his degree in Chemistry from the University of Bologna, Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician" with a thesis on the "Development of an analytical methodology for the analysis and identification of protein adducts by mass spectrometry". He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Bologna, Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician" with a thesis on the "Combined analytical methods of mass spectrometry for the study of impurities in drugs and metabolites of biomolecules". He is also an Associate Professor in Analytical Chemistry at the University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Department of Pharmacy.

His research activity is devoted to the development and validation of chromatographic methods for the qualitative and quantitative determination of biologically active molecules in complex matrices from human and animal (whole blood, serum, plasma, bile, tissues, feces, and urine), cosmetics, foods, and environmental. This activity comprises the study of all processes related to pre-analytical stages such as sampling, extraction and purification, separation, enrichment, and even the application of conventional and hyphenated analytical methods for accurate, sensitive, and selective determination of biologically active molecules. Recently, particular attention has been focused on innovative (micro)extraction procedures like MEPS, FPSE, MIP, DLLME, and SULLE. These procedures have been applied to different compounds, from synthetic and natural origin (glucosamine, 5-amino-salicylic acid, natural or synthetic bile acids, anti-inflammatory, drugs association and fluoroquinolones, secondary metabolites from natural sources, heavy metals). Predictive models and chemometric are also tested in the development of the method, both for the optimization of extraction protocols and final data processing. Particular attention is focused on new instrument configurations for quantitative analysis in a complex matrix.

Prof. Locatelli's contribution to the field includes more than 157 manuscripts, 116 congress communications, 1 patent subject to approval, 13 book chapters and 3 books, and he has served as a gues<sup>t</sup> editor for 13 Special Issues with demonstrable scientific impact (based on Scopus (8th of June 2020), h-index 33, 148 papers, 2778 citations). Besides, he is a reviewer of the following international journals: Analytica Chimica Acta, Current Bioactive Compounds, Journal of Chromatography A, Talanta, Trends in Analytical Chemistry (more than 100 International peer-reviewed Journals). He is a referee for the MIUR Institution for National Projects (SIR), and included in the register REPRISE (Register of Expert Peer Reviewers for Italian Scientific Evaluation) in the "Basic Research" section. He is a referee for VQR 2011-2014. He is also a referee for other universities of proposals through competitive tenders for the allocation of University funds for the activation of research grants. He is an Editorial Board member of the journal Molecules section "Analytical Chemistry", Current Analytical Chemistry, Separations, Current Bioactive Compounds, American Journal of Modern Chromatography, Journal of Selcuk University Science Faculty, Review in Separation Sciences, Cumhuriyet Science Journal. He is an Associate Editor of the magazine Frontiers in Pharmacology section "Ethnopharmacology", Review Editor of the journal Frontiers in Oncology section "Pharmacology for anti-cancer drugs", and Review Editor of the journal Frontiers in Medical Technology section "Nano-Based Drug Delivery". He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the journal Scienze e Ricerche, published by the Italian Book Association.
