Dottorato in BIOLOGIA UMANA E GENETICA MEDICA

Ricerca: Modeling of patient-specific drug response in cystic fibrosis via nasal organoids

1/11/2024- CURRENT Rome, Italy PhD in HUMAN BIOLOGY AND MEDICAL GENETICS, Università La Sapienza I conduct my research activity at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, within the Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine under the coordination of the dr. Adriana Eramo. My project, titled ‘Modeling of patient-specific drug response in cystic fibrosis via nasal organoids’, aims to investigate individualized pharmacological responses in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), with a particular focus on rare pathogenic variants of the CFTR gene that are not yet eligible for approved effective therapies. The overall objective is to generate in vitro models of the respiratory epithelium derived from patients’ nasal epithelial stem cells and to test the efficacy of CFTR modulators in these models, in order to contribute to the development of personalized therapeutic strategies. 06/05/2024 – 31/10/2024 Rome, Italy RESEARCH FELLOW, ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITÀ Translational research: Theratyping Cystic Fibrosis in vitro in ALI culture and organoid models generated from patient-derived nasal epithelial conditionally reprogrammed stem cells. Evaluation of the response to CFTR modulator drugs for the restoration of CFTR function in rare CFTR genotypes. Department Oncology and Molecular Medicine 03/2023 – 03/2024 Rome, Italy M.SC. INTERNSHIP ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITÀ Generation of cultures of conditionally reprogrammed stem cells of the airways from the nasal epithelium of patients with cystic fibrosis for evaluation of the response to CFTR modulator drugs and correlation with the genetic profile (theratyping). Department Oncology and Molecular Medicine 04/2021 – 09/2021 Rome , Italy B.SC. INTERNSHIP ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITÀ Translational research: in vitro expansion of conditionally reprogrammed airways stem cells generation of differentiated respiratory cell models (3D organoids and 2D cultures); analysis of CFTR expression, function and pharmacological correction. Department Oncology and Molecular Medicine EDUCATION 10/2021 – 03/2024 Verona, Italy MASTER'S DEGREE IN MOLECULAR AND MEDICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY Università degli studi di Verona Final grade 110/110 Thesis: Nasal epithelial stem cells-based in vitro models for the study of Cystic Fibrosis: assessment of pharmacological response to clinically used and experimental drugs. 10/2018 – 06/2021 Ferrara, Italy BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY Università degli studi di Ferrara Thesis: Respiratory stem cell-based in vitro models for assessing the effectiveness of personalized pharmacological therapies for Cystic Fibrosis. ABROAD EXPERIENCES 2023 – 2024 Erasmus + Studio Universidade Catolica Potuguesa (UCP), Porto, Portugal. 2016 – 2016 Comenius Project: Three- months scholar exchange; Michelstadt, Germany. 2014 – 2014 Comenius Project: Three-months scholar exchange; Chateau-Gontier, France. LABORATORY TECHNICAL SKILLS Primary cell cultures Airways organoid generation and pharmacological assays Preparation of protein lysates and immunoblot analysis Differentiation of respiratory cells and drug treatment Microscopy images acquisition and data analysis Certifications • Cambridge English Certificate (B2,First); • French EsaBac Diploma.