EDUCATION
2006 PhD (maximum score) in Microsystems, University of ”Tor Vergata”, Roma, IT
2002 M.Sc. (Honors) in Chemical engineering, University of Pisa, IT
CURRENT POSITION(S)
2023 – today Professor of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, University of Pisa (UNIPI), IT
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2015 – 2023 Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, University of Pisa (UNIPI), IT
2012 –today Affiliate Professor, Institute of Life Science, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA), IT
2014 – 2016 Associate Professor, Institute of Medical Science and Tecnology (IMSaT), University of Dundee, UK
2014 – 2016 PI of the Nanobiolab, IMSaT, University of Dundee, UK
2011 – 2014 Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, University of Pisa, UNIPI
2009 – 2011 Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, Institute of Life Science, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, IT
2009 – 2011 PI of the Nanomedicine Lab, Institute of Life Science, SSSA, Pisa, IT
2002 – 2009 Researcher Assistant of Biomedical Engineering, CRIM (center for micro&nano engineering) Lab, SSSA, Pisa, IT
2003 – 2006 Ph.D. student in Microsystem, University ”Tor Vergata”, Rome, IT
Awards
2025-2020 Seal of Excellent Science: holder of an ERC advanced grant
2025-2028 Seal of Excellent Science: holder of the grant Fondo Italiano per la Scienza (Advanced grant)
2020 – 2024 Seal of Excellent Science: holder of a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP)
2019 – 2024 Seal of Excellent Science: holder of a FET-open project
2021 Invited TED Talk / TEDxLungarnoMediceo
2020 Woman in STEM – Pisa – 2020 Edition
July 2019 Scientist of the month, Università di Pisa, IT
Since 2016 Seal of Excellent Science: Marie Curie scholar
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
Lecturer: “Molecular Biology” (Cod. 069EE), Bachelor Degree in Molecular Biotechnology, UNIPI, IT (from 2022 – today)
Lecturer: “Advanced Molecular Biology” (Cod. 369EE), Master Degree in Molecular Biotechnology, UNIPI, IT (from 2014 – today)
Lecturer: Omics: Biotechnology and ai For Health (Cod. 552EE) Master Degree in Biotechnologies And Applied Artificial Intelligence For Health, UNIPI, IT (from 2022 today)
INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES (current)
2022-today Delegate of the Rector for the Research in the Life Science domain
2021-today Board of Directors, Toscana Life Science (https://www.toscanalifesciences.org/it/)
2012- today Faculty member of the PhD in Biology, UNIPI (dot1224137), IT
2019-today Member of the OPBA (body responsible for animal welfare), University of Pisa
2025 Scientific coordinator at the regional level (Tuscany region) of the 2025 Bright-Night edition
CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE AND TEACHING: the numbers in short
My academic age in my section (Molecular Biology): 17 years
METRIX h-index 36, Total citations 4377, 100 papers, 5 PCT patents
2005 – today
- Supervisor of 60 Master Degree students from the University of Pisa (source: https://etd.adm.unipi.it/).
- Supervisor of 16 PhD students from UNIPI (source: https://etd.adm.unipi.it/), 1 from the University of Siena, IT and 1 from UoD, UK.
- Supervisor of 13 PostDoc Fellows.
2006-today: A total of 10M€ of research funding was granted to my lab thanks to my participation in competitive calls.
Projects within the last 10 years (selected)
Sep 2025 – Nov 2030 GAP project – Guidance of axonal pathfinding via nano-switches, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the ERC-2024-ADG call (Project ID 101199573), 2.500.000€
Dic 2025 – Aug 2028 Neurons Engineered with MagnEto-SwItches: a tool for Shaping the nervous system (NEMESIS) Fondo Italiano per la Scienza, Coordinator, 2.000.000€
2021 – 2025 Structural damage to axons resulting from repetitive mechanical motion (ID GP0026/2021) Human Frontier Science Program 350,000
2022 –2025 Personalized medicine of pancreatic cancer using genomics and avatars (ID PANIMIC) Fondazione Pisa 200,000
2019 – 2024 I-GENE (In-vivo Gene Editing by NanotransducErs) (GA 862714) EC HORIZON2020, FETOPEN-RIA-2019-01 1,000,000€
2020 – 2024 Stretch-growth and cell therapy: a novel combinatorial approach for treating spinal cord injuries (ID WfL-IT/21) Wings for Life 300,000
2022 – 2024 Stretch-growth and cell therapy: a novel combinatorial approach for treating chronic spinal cord injuries Fondazione Romoli 50,000€
2021-2023 NESTOR (Nanomaterials for Enzymatic Control of Oxidative Stress Toxicity and Free Radical Generation) (GA101007629) EC HORIZON2020, RISE call 96,600€
2022 – 2025 THE – Tuscany Health Ecosystem, Spoke 8 “Biotechnologies and imaging in neuro science” PNRR, Investimento 1.5 (Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca) 1,306,404€ PI (responsible for UNIPI)
2020-2022 Remote Magnetic targeted therapeutics for peripheral nervous system (MagNerv) Funded by, Israeli-Italian Call for Proposals on Scientific & Technological Cooperation (PI, 50k€)
2017–2020 Mechanotransduction of neurons: a future strategy for the regeneration of spinal cord lesions? Funded by Wings for Life, WFL-IT-16/17 (coordinator, 150k€)
2017 –2020 ZenoX: Xenotransplantation of primary cancer samples in zebrafish embryos: towards personalised Medicine, Fondazione Pisa, project 114/16 (co-PI, 180k€)
2014 –2016 MECAR (Magnetically Enhanced Controlled Axonal Regeneration), 622122
EC, Marie Curie Programme (PI, 320k€)
Major collaborations – international size of my research
My research line is focused on the rational design of macromolecular complexes for modulating gene expression by using approaches of nanotechnology and synthetic biology.
In the neuroscience field, my research team first proposed in 2014 the use of magnetically-actuated nanoparticles for shaping the nervous system development and regeneration. In 2022, I started two pre-clinal studies to validate this technology in the recovery of spinal cord injuries. The impact of this research on the scientific community was huge and my team is now the hub of an international network testing this methodology for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson, Alzheimer) and in ageing. Outstanding scientists from 4 continents collaborate to this network: Prof Gerardo Goya, Università di Saragoza, Spain; Dr Ranieri Bizzarri, UNIPI, Pisa; Prof. Henry Hess, Columbia University, USA; Prof Orit Shefi, Bar llan University, Israel; Prof. Akira Kakugo, Hokkaido University, Japan; Dr. Fabian Raudzus, Kyoto University, Japan; Prof Rolf Heumann, Bochum University, Germania; Dr Hans Zempel, University Hospital Cologne, Germany, etc..
