PhD supervisor: Prof. Antonello Mallamaci, Laboratory of Cerebral Cortex Development

Summary of career/studies:

I obtained my bachelor's Degree in Biology and my master’s degree in Molecular Biology at University of Naples “Federico II”. 

During my master’s thesis, I carried out my experimental work at the Human Molecular Neurogenetics Laboratory, Institute of Genetics and Biophysics (IGB) – Adriano Buzzati of National Research Council (CNR) in Naples.  My thesis project focused on the study of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as West Syndrome, a severe and rare form of pediatric epilepsy with early onset, caused by the expansion mutation in the Aristaless related homeobox gene (ARX). 

After my master’s degree, I continued to work at the Human Molecular Neurogenetics Laboratory thanks to a postgraduate internship, which gave me the opportunity to further deepen my research work in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders. 

Then I started the PhD course in Functional and Structural Genomics at SISSA in Trieste, to join the laboratory of Cerebral Cortex Development, because I was really motivated to consolidate my knowledge in brain development research.

Currently, I am focusing my PhD project on the study of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive malignant primary human brain tumor. In particular, I am investigating the role of Emx2, a transcription factor that regulates astrogliogenesis, in GBM tumorigenesis and progression. The modulation of Emx2 gene may represent an innovative and promising tool for glioblastoma gene therapy.