Former Students

XXXV round (from academic year 2019-2020)

 

Stefania Peddio

Stefania Peddio graduated cum laude in Biology MSc in 2016. She completed cum laude the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program (XXXV cycle), under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Zucca at Cagliari University, Biomedical Sciences Department. During her studies she joined the research group of Dr. Viviana Cristiglio at the Institut Laue-Langevin (Grenoble, France), studying in silico the protein/protein interactions through the density functional theory (DFT). Her PhD thesis was titled “Proteinaceous inhibitors of α-amylase and α-glucosidase from common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): biochemical characterization and phylogenetic analysis of Sardinian cultivars”. The main aim was the characterization of plant proteins involved in the treatment of widespread diseases such as obesity and diabetes. In particular the content of α-amylase and α-glucosidase proteinaceous inhibitors was analyzed in several Sardinian common bean cultivars. The inhibitor was then purified, characterized, and tested for its effectiveness against mammalian and insect α-amylase. Moreover, it was investigated the inhibitor gene and partially reconstructed the primary and secondary structure of the inhibitors expressed in all cultivars. These data could improve the knowledge about Sardinian biodiversity and could increase the commercial value of some cultivar laying the foundation for the development of new food supplements.

Sonia Zodio

Sonia Zodio has a degree in Toxicology and a master’s degree in Food Science and Nutrition. She has focused her training and her interest on the study of the nutraceutical properties of foods commonly consumed with the Mediterranean diet. After graduation, she worked on the investigation of the properties of dietary phenolic compounds in vitro, through an internship at the Laboratory of Experimental Pathology of the Department of Biomedical Sciences @UNICA in 2016, supervised by Prof. Monica Deiana, and through an intership at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Parasitología y Biomédicina “López Neyra (Granada, Spain) in 2017, supervised by Dr. JuanCarlos Morales. She joined the PhD program in Molecular and Traslational Medicine @UNICA in 2019, and during her PhD, which included a training in Barcelona, she studied the dysfunction of the epithelial and endothelial barrier, focusing on the alteration of tight junctions and the activation of cellular pathways linked to chronic inflammatory diseases. She demonstrated how the phenolic compounds of olive oil HT and Tyr, as well as their sulphate and glucuronide metabolites, are capable of modulating LPS stimulation and also attenuated HG cell damage, limiting the alteration of TJ and the activation of MAPKs and NLRP3 inflammasome in Caco-2 and HUVEC cells, suggesting they could play a significant role in the maintenance of intestinal mucosa integrity and in preserving the endothelial barrier function, acting as direct antioxidants and to modulate the cellular redox state, through the interaction with the intracellular signaling pathways involved in the response to oxidative stress and in the initial stages of the inflammatory process.

 

XXXIV round (from academic year 2018-2019)

 

Vanessa Palmas 
Eleonora Lai
Giuseppe Corrias

 

Elias Manca

Elias graduated in Medical Biotechnologies from the University of Siena in 2018. He earned a scholarship for the PhD program in Molecular and Translational Medicine @UNICA, under the supervision of Prof. Cristina Cocco. His focus was on brain disorders and autoimmune diseases. Elias investigated the decline of VGF-derived peptides associated with dopaminergic neurodegeneration in various animal models and human samples from Parkinson’s disease patients. This research led to the discovery of new biomarkers for the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. He also explored the role of inflammation and telomere attrition in behavioral disorders such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. His PhD thesis, titled “Brain-reactive autoantibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus,” revealed, for the first time, the presence of autoantibodies targeting neurons among patients affected by systemic lupus erythematosus. Additionally, he studied the pharmacodynamics of Belimumab and Rituximab, providing insights into the control of B-lymphocyte proliferation over time in autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Elias spent six months at the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis (Hamburg), working on a project aimed at understanding the neurodegenerative mechanisms underlying multiple sclerosis. His research contributions are evident through the publication of scientific papers in reputable journals.

 

Martina Spada

Martina approached the world of Metabolomics research during the last year of her master’s degree (2018) in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technologies @UNICA. Fascinated by this world, she applied for a Ph.D. position in the Molecular and Translational Medicine program under the supervision of Prof. Luigi Atzori. Her research project focused on metabolic reprogramming in colorectal cancer cells, essential to sustain the increased and uncontrolled tumor proliferation. Another important aspect she dealt with concerned the dependence of cancer cells on particular nutrients, especially glutamine, a non-essential amino acid involved in several biosynthetic and energetic processes. Her project aimed to selectively target cancer cells by interfering with the metabolic pathways essential for their survival and proliferation. To achieve these objectives, she explored the metabolomic profile of several colorectal cancer cell lines characterized by different tumor stages and genetic alterations to identify metabolic phenotypes associated with tumor cancer cells development, progression, and response to therapy. The methodological approaches included metabolomic analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and molecular biology experiments such as Real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. She completed the Ph.D. program (XXXIV cycle) in 2022 with the thesis: “Glutamine deprivation and glutaminase 1 inhibitory effect in colorectal cancer cells: a metabolomic study”. After obtaining her Ph.D., she is currently part of the Residency program in Clinical Pathology and Clinical Biochemistry.

 

Rajesh Pal

Rajesh obtained his Master’s degree in Biotechnology from Amity University (Noida), India in 2017. His postgraduate research focused on the topic “Cloning, expression, purification, and in-silico screening of inhibitors for tRNA dihydrouridine synthase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis”. It was during this time that he gained invaluable experience by engaging with diverse research groups.
In 2018, Rajesh joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program at UNICA. He worked in Prof. Amedeo Columbano’s lab, where he was supervised by Dr. Andrea Perra at the University of Cagliari. He was jointly supervised by Dr. Paolo Uva at the Center for Advanced Studies, Research, and Development in Sardinia (CRS4), and his research topic investigated the molecular changes in T3-treated preneoplastic hepatic lesions using Next-generation sequencing (NGS).
After obtaining his Ph.D. in 2022, he currently works at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) as a computational biologist, studying complex karyotype sarcomas using multi-omics approaches.

 

 

XXXIII round (from academic year 2017-2018)

 

Emanuela Casula

Emanuela obtained a Bachelor degree in Biotechnology in 2015 and a Master degree in Food and Nutrition Sciences in 2017 at the University of Cagliari, discussing an experimental thesis entitled ‘Motoric operation through smartphone app in a group of obese patients’. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2017, under the supervision of Dr. Monica Deiana. Her project focuses on oxysterols activities in the gut and on probiotics and their role against inflammation, in particular intestinal inflammation.

 

Silvia Pisanu

Silvia graduated in Food and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Cagliari in November 2015, discussing a thesis entitled “Evaluation of energy balance in a group of normal-weight individuals”. After the Master Degree, she spent a period of apprenticeship in the Nutrition and Metabolism Section of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2017 and currently works in Prof. Aldo Manzin’s laboratory, involved in several research projects based on the metagenomics analysis of human microbiota. Her Ph.D. project focuses on the interaction between gut microbiota composition, lifestyle factors and obesity.

 

 

 

XXXII round (from academic year 2016-2017)

 

Fabio Contu

Fabio studied Biology at the University of Cagliari and after spending four years working in the Microbiology lab of the Department of Biomedical Science, on July 2016  he earned a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology, discussing an experimental thesis entitled “Studies on the synergic activity of a three-drug cocktail on wild-type and cisplatin-resistant cells”.  His personal interest in cancer genetics influenced his  choice to join the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program at the University of Cagliari. Fabio currently works under the supervision of Prof. Roberta Vanni, involved in the study of cancer genetic instability and development.

 

Carla Lai

Carla holds a Bachelor degree in Toxicology and a Master degree in Food and Nutrition Science obtained from the University of Cagliari in 2015.  She worked at the Department of Life Environmental and Drug Sciences at the University of Cagliari, in development of analytical protocols and chemical characterization of nutrients. Carla joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2016 and currently works  under the supervision of Prof. Alberto Angioni. Her project will be focused on the study of gut microbiome-host interactions in health and disease.

 

Eleonora Loi

Eleonora graduated in Biology from the University of Cagliari in July 2013. Then, she moved to Trieste where she earned a Master’s degree in Functional Genomics discussing an experimental thesis entitled “Detection of genetic variants correlated to pharmacologic treatments resistance of juvenile idiopathic arthritis”.  She has recently joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA and she’s currently working with the team of Prof. Patrizia Zavattari. Her PhD project is focused on the study of genomic and epigenomic alterations in human cancer cells.

 

 

 

 

Federico Loi

 

Luigi graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1989 at the University of Cagliari. He then entered the School of Clinical Immunology, achieving the post-graduate degree in 1994 discussing a thesis on “Chemo-Immunotherapy in Renal Carcinoma”. He subsequently entered the school of Clinical Oncology, achieving the post-graduate degree in 1999 discussing a thesis on “Multidisciplinary Treatment of Head and Neck Carcinomas”. He’s working at the Ospedale Oncologico in Cagliari since 1993, achieving a High Specialty Certification in Head and Neck Carcinomas in 2004 and being at present member of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology Unit. He joined the Molecular and Traslational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA and is presently focusing, under the supervision of Prof. Mario Scartozzi, on predictive and prognostic markers in GI malignancies, especially gastric, colon and pancreatic cancers.

 

Marco Puzzoni

Marco  graduated  in Medicine and Surgery at University of  Cagliari in 2010 discussing an experimental thesis entitled “Effects of zoledronic acid on circulating biomarkers in advanced cancer patients with bone metastases”. During Medical Oncology specialty training he was involved in translational research focusing on the predictive factors for gastrointestinal cancer treatment. He achieved the post-graduated degree in Medical Oncology at the University of  Cagliari in  2016  discussing a thesis regarding the predictive factors for anti–EGFR antibody  efficacy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. He joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2016  and  currently works, under the supervision of Prof. Mario Scartozzi, at the Unit of Medical Oncology. His project will be focused on the study of the predictive factors for panitumumab efficacy in patient with colorectal cancer.

 

Maria Laura Santoru

Maria Laura holds a Bachelor degree in Biology at the University of Sassari, a Master degree in Health Biology at the University of Turin, and a specialization in Clinical Pathology at the University of Sassari. Thanks to the Erasmus Placement program, she spent a work period at the HNR-MRC at the University of Cambridge, UK. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2016 and currently works in Prof. Luigi Atzori’s Clinical Metabolomics group. Her project will be focused on the study of metabolomic changes during cellular proliferation and trasformation.

 

Maria Giovanna Vilia 

Maria Giovanna holds a bachelor degree at University of Cagliari and she earned a Master Degree in Molecular and Cellular Medical Biotechology at the University of San Raffaele in Milan in November 2014, discussing a thesis entitled “Study of TIR8 in Chronic lymphocytic leukemia”.  As an undergraduate student she spent a period of traineeship in the Cytokines and Cancer Cell Signalling Group at the Imperial College in London. After the degree she works as a junior research fellow at San Raffaele Institute. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2016 and currently works in Prof. Amedeo Columbano’ s lab. Her project will be focused on the study of the immunological issues on hepatocarcinoma.

 

XXXI round (from academic year 2015-2016)

 

Sylvain Blois

Sylvain received a Master’s degree in Cellular Engineering and Therapeutic Strategies in 2003 at the University of Reims (France). He joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2015 under the supervision of Prof. Patrizia Zavattari. His projects focus on the expression of genetically altered genes associated with autism spectrum disorders and cancer, and the study of murine polyomavirus infection and pathogenesis.

 

 

Lavinia Cabras

Lavinia graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Cagliari in October 2014, discussing a thesis entitled “The role of a mitochondrial chaperone TRAP1 in hepatocarcinogenesis”. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program in 2015 and is currently working in Prof. Amedeo Columbano’s lab. Her project will focus on the study of multistage hepatocarcinogenesis, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms underlying metabolic reprogramming of preneoplastic and neoplastic hepatocytes.

 

 

 

Carlo Lisci

Carlo has a degree in Biology Sciences from the University of Cagliari and a Postgraduate Degree (“Specialization”) in Human Feeding and Nutrition Science at the University of Cagliari. In 2011, he was research fellow at Lund University, Sweden, in the Department of Experimental Medical Science, Neurobiology Unit, with Prof. Anders Bjorklund and Prof. Manolo Carta. He joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2015 under the supervision of Prof. Gian Luca Ferri, in the Prof. Gian Luca Ferri – Dr. Cristina Cocco NEF-Laboratory. His project focuses on the relationship between the products of the VGF gene and the metabolic changes in Parkinson’s Disease experimental models.

 

Laura Orgiano

Laura graduated in Medicine in July 2008 at the University of Cagliari. During her specialty training, she spent a period in a laboratory of clinical immunology working about the interactions between NK cells and human melanoma cells, especially in those harboring BRAF V600E mutation. She finished her specialization in Medical Oncology in July 2014, discussing a thesis entitled “An open label, multicenter expanded access study of Vemurafenib in patients with metastatic melanoma BRAF V600 positive”. After that, she joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program and she’s actually working under the supervision of Dr. Clelia Madeddu and Prof. Mario Scartozzi at the Unit of Medical Oncology. Her main focus is finding new predictive and prognostic markers in melanoma patients who undergo to targeted and immune therapies.

 

Claudia Orrù

Claudia graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Cagliari in July 2015, discussing a thesis entitled  “Effect of Alpha-Lipoic Acid on NRF2/KEAP1 pathway on a dietary induced animal model of steatohepatitis”. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program in 2015 and is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Perra at the Unit of Oncology and Molecular Pathology. Her project will be focused on the role of the transcription factor NRF2 in multistage hepatocarcinogenesis.

 

Monica Serra

Monica earned a degree in Experimental and Applied Biology at the University of Sassari in July 2014, discussing a thesis entitled “IL28B gene polymorphisms associated with sustained virological response induced by hepatitis C treatment with new antiviral drugs (Boceprevil e Telaprevil)”. She carried out her undergraduate experimental work at the Molecular Biology Laboratory of ASL 1, under the supervision of Prof. P. Enrico. Recently, Monica joined the research group of Prof. Ezio Laconi as a Ph.D. student in Molecular and Translational Medicine, focusing her studies on the modulatory role of the tissue microenvironment in the emergence of neoplastic disease.

 

Róbert Szabó

Róbert graduated in Virology at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia in May 2013, discussing the thesis “Molecular Evolution of Hantaviruses in Central European Region”. As a PhD. student in “Virology” at Virological Institute of Slovak Academy of Sciences has been continuing in the same field of study under the supervision of Dr. Boris Klempa. During this time he received an additional pedagogical education at the same university. In 2015 he received a doctoral cotutelle agreement and joined a PhD. program in “Molecular and Translational Medicine” at the University of Cagliari in laboratories of Biomedical Sciences under the supervision of Prof. Alessandra Pani. His research activities are aimed to the molecular epidemiology and antiviral screening against zoonotic viruses causing hemorrhagic fevers.

 

Laura Tronci

Laura holds a Master degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology  and a Bachelor degree in Toxicology at the University of Cagliari. Thanks to the Erasmus Placement program, she spent a period of apprenticeship in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Roehampton in London, UK. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2015 and currently works in Prof. Luigi Atozri’s Clinical Metabolomics group.  Her project will be focused on the study of metabolic alterations in cancer.

 

 

XXX round (from academic year 2014-2015)

 

Federica Cannas

Federica graduated at the University of Cagliari in July 2013, discussing a thesis entitled “Changes in neuronal excitability and long-term synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of C57BL/6J mice exposed to social isolation”. As an undergraduate student, she worked at the Department of Life and Environmental Science and Environment. She earned a Master Degree in Forensic Genetics and attended  Postgraduate courses on Forensic Science at the University of Roma “Tor Vergata”. She recently entered the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program at the University of Cagliari and joined the team of  Prof. Carlo Carcassi. Federica is currently studying the role of telomere length dynamics in human diseases.

 

Martina Cocco

After a Bachelor’s degree in Experimental Biology,Martina attended for six months an internship in Analysis Laboratory at the Oncological Hospital “A.Businco” in Cagliari. In July 2012 she obtained a degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Cagliari,discussing the thesis entitled ”NMP1 mutation: morphological  and prognostic connections with the Internal Tandem Duplication of FLT3”,developed after the study of patients affected by Acute Myeloid Leukemia. At the moment she is enrolled in the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D program at University of Cagliari under the supervision of Dr.ssa Clelia Madeddu. Martina is currently studying the phenotype/activation of macrophages M1 and M2 subpopulations related to aspects of immunology,inflammation and metabolic pathways in the microenvironment in patients with ovarian cancer.

 

Matteo Massidda

Matteo graduated in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Cagliari in March 2014, discussing the thesis “Application of Ion Torrent technology to Non Invasive Prenatal Diagnosis of β-thalassemia using cell-free fetal DNA from maternal plasma”. As a Ph.D. student in Molecular and Traslational Medicine, Matteo decided to continue his studies in the same field joining the research group of Prof. Maria Cristina Rosatelli, involved in the development of protocols for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal sex, RhD status and β-thalassemia. The goal is to replace, in the near future, the current invasive procedures for prenatal diagnosis, which are associated with a 0.5- 1% risk of miscarriage.

 

Antonio Murgia

Antonio Murgia has a master degree in Food and Nutrition Science (University of Cagliari). He was fascinated by metabolomics (both GC-MS and LC-MS) not only in respect of clinical applications but also as a potential tool for solving safety and authenticity food issues. Antonio is now conducting a doctoral research in the group coordinated by Prof. Pierluigi Caboni applying a metabolomics approach to the study of the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) working on hyphenated analytical techniques such as GC-MS and high resolution LC-QTOF-MS.

 

 

 Elisabetta Puliga

Elisabetta graduated in Molecular and Cellular Biology  at the University of Cagliari in July 2014, discussing a thesis entitled “Population Genetics of Papilio hospiton Genè (Lepidoptera): characterization of microsatellite loci”. Thanks to the Erasmus Placement program she spent a period of apprenticeship in the Genetics Laboratory of the Department of Tropical Ecology and Animal Diversity in Vienna, Austria. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2014 and currently works in Prof. Amedeo Columbano’s lab.  Her project will be focused on the study of the molecular changes associated with the antitumoral effect of T3  (triiodothyronine) on hepatocarcinogenesis.

 

Gabriele Serreli

Gabriele graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Cagliari in July 2014, discussing a thesis entitled “Chemical-physical characteristics of Carignano wines”. He’s currently working as a Ph.D. student in the research group coordinated by Dr. Monica Deiana, which focuses mainly on oxidative stress and related diseases, and its modulation by dietary antioxidant compounds such as polyphenols.

 

 

 

 

XXIX round (from academic year 2013-2014)

 

Erika Cadoni

Erika earned a degree in Pharmacy at the University of Cagliari in July 2013, discussing a thesis entitled “Phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of propolis samples”. She carried out her undergraduate experimental work at the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Environment. As a Ph.D. student in Molecular and Translational Medicine, Erika recently joined the research group of Prof. Ezio Laconi, which is primarily involved in two lines of investigation: strategies for liver regenerative medicine and liver cell therapy; the role of the microenvironment in tumor progression.

 

Francesca Chiappe

Francesca holds a double degree, in Biological Sciences and Natural Sciences, both obtained from the University of Cagliari. She also earned a post-graduate degree from the School of Medical Genetics at the University ‘La Sapienza’ of Rome, with a thesis titled: “Genetic aspects of BPES: molecular analysis of FOXL2 gene and genotype-phenotype correlation”. Francesca is currently working with the team led by Prof. Paolo Moi, studying alternative splicing mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Wilson desease. The project involves performing RNA functional studies of splice site consensus sequence mutations identified in Wilson patients, testing sequence variations occurring in consensus sequence of donor and acceptor splice site in the ATP7B gene and deletions detected in Wilson patients by RT, nested-PCR and quantitative PCR methods. Results will improve diagnostic ability for this genetic disorder, producing relevant information on alternative splicing as a mechanism of disease as well as the functional activity of the ATP7B protein.

 

Antonio Fadda

Antonio graduated at the University of Cagliari, with an experimenta thesis on the “Behavioral response evoked by the olfactory perception in generalist Drosophila melanogaster and in specialist Drosophila sechellia“. After a Master Degree and Postgraduate courses at the University of Florence, he recently joined the Ph.D. course in Molecular and Translational Medicine @UNICA. Antonio is currently studying, under the supervision of Dr. Patrizia Zavattari, genetic and epigenetic alterations potentially involved in the process of carcinogenesis, mainly focusing on differential methylation analysis between tumor and non-tumor tissues.

 

Valentina Ghiaccio

After graduating in Experimental and Applied Biology at the University of Cagliari, Valentina spent a year at the Granada University,  Spain, where she took active part in the project “Development of lentiviral vectors for applications in gene therapy”. Thanks to a Globus Fellowship, she subsequently spent a period of apprenticeship in the Gene Therapy Laboratory of the Austral Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The project Valentina will be pursuing as a Ph.D. student in Molecular and Translational Medicine aims at the development of specialized lentiviral based gobin vectors to be delivered into hematopoietic stem cells for the gene therapy of beta-thalassemia and related hemoglobinopathies. Valentina works under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Moi.

 

Marta Szydlowska

Marta is native of Wroclaw, Poland. She graduated in 2012 at Wroclaw Medical University with a Master in Medical Laboratory Sciences. She joined the Molecular and Translational Medicine Ph.D. program @UNICA in 2014 and works in Prof. Amedeo Columbano’s lab. Marta is studying, under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Perra, the molecular changes involved in HCC development, with particular emphasis on the changes of genes/microRNAs expression in the early stages of the carcinogenic process.