Interests

I am currently a senior post-doc at the Istituto di Nanotecnologia CNR-NANOTEC working on the role of electro/mechanical cues in the control and guidance of glioma progression. Particularly, I investigate glioblastoma cell behavior in response to mechanical microenvironment modifications. To this aim, I use 2D and 3D culture systems as extracellular matrix models and pharmacological approaches to study i) how stiffness variation in extracellular matrix modulate migration processes ii) identify the molecular pathways involved in migration mechanisms. In this context, I take advantage of multiple methods and techniques such as calcium signaling analysis, time-lapse and confocal microscopies). Moreover, I have a strong broad background in behavioral neuroscience, with multidisciplinary training and expertise in in vivo experimentation (such as creation of in vivo models of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, knowledge and application of several behavioral tasks, rodent neurosurgery, central and intracerebral drug administration in rodents).