Research: Molecular analysis of the tumour microenvironment in glioblastoma
I graduated in biolecnology during my undergraduate and master's degree. During my master's training I became interested in the use of bioinformatics (R language) for the analysis of omics data, in a project aimed at the realisation of mechanistic models for signal transduction in tumour lines. To date, I am currently pursuing a PhD course investigating the use of personalised medicine in cases of glioblastoma, in the tumour immunology department of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. In this path I would like to contribute to deepening knowledge in tumour immunotherapy and in bioinformatic analysis tools useful for research activities.
November 2023 - Start of GBM PhD at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità
> Topic: "Molecular analysis of the tumour microenvironment in glioblastoma" in relation to the EraPerMed project "Improving personalised glioblastoma care by intertwined immunomics and artificial intelligence approaches".
2020 - 2023: Master's degree in Environmental Industrial Genomic Biotechnology
> Vote: 109/110
> Thesis title: "Development of a computational approach to study molecular mechanisms of imatinib resistance in cellular models of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)"
> Thesis topic: Chronic myeloid leukaemia is characterised by the BCR-ABL fusion gene with aberrant ABL1 kinase activity. Imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting BCR-ABL, has been successfully introduced as a first-line treatment of the disease. However, the molecular mechanisms of resistance remain poorly described. The overall aim of this thesis work (carried out at the Charles Darwin Department of Biology and Biotechnology, supervisor Livia Perfetto) was to generate mechanistic models representing key differences in signal transduction between imatinib-resistant and imatinib-sensitive cells, in order to shed light on BCR-ABL-independent signalling pathways responsible for resistance mechanisms. To this end, computational techniques from systems biology, and in particular methods exploiting networks of protein interactions, were exploited to integrate multi-omics data.
2016-2019: Bachelor's degree in agro-industrial biotechnology
> Vote: 105/110
> Thesis title: "Study in yeast of the interaction between the mitochondria-nucleus signalling pathway regulator RTG2 and the MAP kinase HOG1 in the response to osmotic stress"
> Thesis topic: This thesis project focused on the study of the co-ordinated response to osmotic stress at the level of the SAPK Hog1 (HOG high-osmolarity glycerol pathway) and the cytosolic sensor Rtg2 (retrograde mitochondrial signalling pathway), using the model organism Saccharomyces. Studies such as this one (carried out at the Charles Darwin Department of Biology and Biotechnology, supervisor Cristina Mazzoni) investigating mitochondrial dysfunction could also be crucial for research into human cellular problems. Indeed, interesting homologies between osmotic and retrograde response pathways are known between yeast cells and humans.