Visiting professors
Accademic year 2022-23
Alessandro Blasimme
Period: September-December 2022
Host: Fabrizio Rufo
Synthesis of joint research: Dr. Blasimme conducted research at La Sapienza, focusing on the ethical and regulatory implications of stem cell-derived embryo models. His work explored the potential of creating models that accurately replicate human embryogenesis, challenging existing ethical and epistemological assumptions in human embryo research. This pioneering research resulted in the first international publication in this field (Blasimme and Sugarman 2023). In addition to his research, Dr. Blasimme led a seminar on life sciences and biotechnology ethics, engaging actively with motivated students. He also participated in academic events and delivered a talk at the symposium "Anthropology of Health: New Approaches and Perspectives".
References:
Blasimme, A. and Sugarman, J., 2023. Human stem cell-derived embryo models: Toward ethically appropriate regulations and policies. Cell Stem Cell, 30(8), pp.1008-1012.
Accademic year 2020-21
Robert Muscarella
Associate Professor at Department of Ecology and Genetics, Plant Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University (Sweden)
Period: April-June 2021
Host: Laura Parducci, Sabina Burrascano e Carlo Ricotta
Synthesis of joint research: Understanding how species geographic distributions shift in response to environmental change has critical relevance for understanding current patterns of plant biodiversity and implications of climate change. Reconstructing species past range shifts, monitoring modern biodiversity and assessing the magnitude and distribution of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities provide useful ways to gain insight to past and present biogeography of species and also to evaluate performance of species distribution models over time scales.