* 2014 - ICREA Research Professor * 2013 ERC Starting Grant * 2010 - Group Leader, Bioinformatics and Genomics Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona (Spain) * 2011 - Clare Hall Life Member, University of Cambridge (UK) * 2005-2010 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Clare Hall College, Chemistry Department, University of Cambridge (UK) * 2001-2005 - PhD, Biochemistry Department, University of Zurich, Zurich (CH) * 1996-2000 - MPhil Theoretical Physics, Statistical Mechanics, University la Sapienza, Rome (Italy)

Research interests

My main focus is to understand the role played by RNA molecules in protein networks. Characterizing protein-RNA associations is key to unravel the complexity and functionality of mammalian genomes and will open up therapeutic avenues for the treatment of a broad range of human disorders.  Using  computational and experimental approaches I study ribonucleoprotein complexes involved in i) transcriptional and translational regulation (e.g., X-chromosome inactivation) and ii) neurodegenerative diseases (examples include Parkinson’s SNCA and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis proteins TDP-43 and FUS).  I aim to discover the involvement of RNA molecules in regulatory networks controlling protein production and I am interested in understanding mechanisms whose alteration lead to aberrant aggregation.  We have recently observed that interaction between proteins and mRNAs induce feedback loops that are crucial in protein homeostasis. We also found that specific proteins and RNAs phase separate in the cytosol and nucleus when their abundance is significantly high and we are investigating  how large assemblies formation affects cell function.