I started my journey in “science” as a Bachelor student in 2008. Science means knowledge and improvement, The world of science has always incredibly fascinated me and for this reason I chose to study Biology, obtaining my Master Degree at the University of Bari in 2014. Thereafter, I achieved the PhD in Biomolecular Medicine at the University of Verona in 2017. During these years, I studied the molecular basis of pancreatic cancer initiation and progression, focusing on the characterization of the biological features of pancreatic cancer stem cells. From March to September 2017, I joined the laboratory of “Stem Cell in Cancer & Aging” led by Prof. Christopher Heeschen at the Barts Cancer Institute (BCI, London, UK), where I continued to study the effect of new therapeutic strategies on patient-derived pancreatic cancer stem cells. On September 2019, I started a post-doctoral fellowship under the supervisor of Dr. Luigi Laghi at the Humanitas Clinical and Research Center in Milan (IT) where I conducted a translational research activity focused on the genotyping of genetic variants as modifier of pancreatic cancer progression and on their involvement in host immune response. Since September 2020, I started a prestigious ERC-founded postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Nanotechnology of CNR (CNR NANOTEC) under the supervisor of Dr. Loretta del Mercato.

I started by chance when my thesis supervisor encouraged me to work on 3D in vitro models of pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive and difficult to be treated neoplasms. From that moment I realized that there are poorly understood mechanisms driving this disease and they must be clarified in order to identify possible treatment strategies. For this reason, I decided to work every day with tenacity and constancy to learn more about this “silent killer” and be able to give patients the hope of fighting together.

My research project is part of the prestigious ERC-Starting Grant project INTERCELLMED (Sensing CELL-cell INTERaction heterogeneity in 3D tumor models: towards precision MEDicine).
I’m working on the development of 3D in vivo-like culture systems that mimic the pancreatic tumor microenvironment coupled with sensing particles for measuring intracellular and extracellular concentration of key biological analytes (i.e pH, oxygen, K+). Through live imaging and computational analyses we study tumor-stroma interactions and quantify of drugs efficacy.

Our 3D-in vitro culture systems engineered with sensing particles will be used for culturing patient-derived tumor cells and for evaluating their response to different anticancer drugs.
This approach is oriented towards precision medicine and represents a predictive model of patients’ response to personalized treatments.

Being part of the Italian Pancreatic Cancer Community is a great opportunity that allows to meet and interact with national and international researchers who, like me, work on pancreatic cancer. Ours is a team work, therefore the promotion of collaborations and the exchange of viewpoints is essential to advance knowledge on pancreatic cancer..

During my free time, I love to walk and visit new places. I like cooking, especially making cakes.
I love shopping, it relaxes me a lot!