I am a molecular neurobiologist interested in genetic the mechanisms of neural cell fate acquisition and neuronal differentiation. My interest in developmental regulators of cell specification started during my PhD in Neurobiology at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy with Prof. Federico Cremisi. During my thesis, I developed a device for in vitro optogenetic stimulation alongside a protocol for hIPSC-differentiation and xenotransplantation of dentate gyrus neurons. Afterward, I moved to the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Trondheim, Norway, for my first post-doc with Prof. Giulia Quattrocolo to explore genetic mechanisms guiding synaptogenesis in the postnatal hippocampus and glutamatergic cell-fating in the embryonic medial entorhinal cortex.
I am currently undertaking my postdoctoral research in the Rico laboratory to investigate genetic regulation of interneuronal synaptogenesis in the developing human cerebral cortex.