
Salvatore Barbera
Experience & Activities
Salvatore Barbera graduated in Biomedical Laboratory Techniques (classification number SNT3 of the course in Technical Health Sciences) at the Faculty of Medicine of Catania University on 25 October 2005 (grade, 110/110 cum laude), with a dissertation entitled “Assessment of the state of drug addiction from hair matrices. Evaluation of the risk of false positive after external cocaine contamination “
Since 1997 he has attended both the Forensic Toxicology Laboratories and the Forensic Hemogenetics Laboratory as voluntary theoretical-practical internships with the aim to acquire specific expertise on techniques concerning the DNA extraction and purification, methods of investigation to the recognition/disavowal of paternity and for personal identification, genetic diagnosis of both blood and sperm; techniques concerning the histological sampling, extraction techniques (acid digestion, direct solvent extraction, and solid phase extraction) from both biological matrices (viscera, biological liquids, hair matrices) and non-biological.
He has also acquired expertise on both gas- and liquid-chromatographic techniques such as GC(-FID, -ECD, -NPD), GC-MS, HPLC and TLC but, also on spectrophotometric analytical techniques.
In December 2016 he joint to the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, branch of Catania, as an administrative assistant and since 2019 to date he has been in charge as ICB Administrative Manager for the branch of Catania.
Extraction from the intestines
Extraction from hair matrices
Barbera N., Barbera S., Lombardo I., Sgarlata M., Romano G. (2000) “Determinazione dei cannabinoidi nei capelli: contaminazione esterna e rischio di falsi positivi”. Rivista Italiana di Medicina Legale, 22 (4-5):1039-1056.
Cartia G., Romano G., Barbera N., Barbera S., Geraci D. (2003) “Impatto tossicologico dell’1,3-dicloropropene nei terreni e nei vegetali”, Colture Protette, Anno XXXII (7):55-59.
G. Sciacca, A. Finocchiaro, S. Barbera, K. Fisicaro, M. Avitabile, G. Dell’Osso (2004) “La tipizzazione dell’acido desossiribonucleico (DNA) su tessuto umano fresco trattato con diversi fissativi. Risultati a confronto”. Medicina Legale, Atti del XX Congresso Nazionale dei Genetisti Forensi Italiani (Ge.F.I.), Bologna, 9 – 11 settembre 2004, pp. 226 – 227.
V.Mazzone, K. Fisicaro, G. Sciacca, S. Barbera, N. Barbera(2007) “Studio di differenti fissativi per l’ottimizzazione delle metodiche istomorfologiche e di biologia molecolare.” Biologi Italiani, Anno XXXVII – n.8 , Settembre 2007, pp. 33- 39.
Guido Romano, Francesca Indorato, Giorgio Spadaro, Salvatore Barbera, Nunziata Barbera. “Cocaine contamination in pubic hair: Analysis of the decontamination method”. Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences (2014) 4, 129–136


