Alumni

I joined the Chiappini Lab to exploit 3D nanotechnology for addressing cells behaviour and stem cell differentiation by engineering their environment. I did my PhD in Bioengineering and Robotics with focus in bio-nanotechnology at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genoa, Italy. During the Phd I studied the interface between cultured cells and multifunctional three-dimensional nanostructured surfaces with several applications, such as opto- and electro-poration, drug delivery, recording of action potentials and spectroscopic analysis. I received my BSc in Physics and my MSc in Physics of the biosystems at Sapienza – University of Rome, Italy with the thesis “Synthesis and Characterization of Virus-Like Nanoparticles”.

I did my PhD at UNESCO-Regional Centre for Biotechnology, India and worked on investigating the role of PTMs such as SUMOylation in intestinal mucosal biology. My work was particularly focused on understanding the involvement of SUMO enzymes in controlling intestinal infections and inflammation associated disorders. I have gained extensive research experience in molecular biology, cellular biology, immunology and gene therapy. I have published peer-reviewed research articles in Nanoscale, Royal Society of Open Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology. Post PhD, I have worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Yale University, School of Medicine. My work was focused on investigating the role of autophagy in mucosal biology. At King’s College London, my work involved in-vitro characterisation and optimisation of nanoneedle mediated delivery of COL7A1 gene in skin fibroblasts, keratinocytes and organoids for treating recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). The main aim of this project was to develop a rapid, minimally invasive and novel method for treating rare and non-curable disease like RDEB.

I joined the Chiappini Lab in June 2020 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, my work was to develop new approaches to design nanomaterials for topical delivery of biologicals. I did my PhD in Northumbria University (UK) worked on developing elastic instabilities induced super-flexible sensors and advanced 3D morphing transducers. I am particularly focused on developing the control mechanisms of elastic instabilities and manufacturing the micro and nano soft devices, to exploit their applications in sensing and actuation systems. My PhD is in collaboration with Scottish Microelectronics Centre, University of Edinburgh, and Newcastle Bio-imaging centre. I have published seven first-authored papers and won an outstanding student paper award at the international flexible electronics technology conference during my PhD.

I joined the Chiappini Lab in December 2020 as PostDoctoral Research Associate in collaboration with MicrofluidX to develop microfluidics-based platform for cell and gene therapy applications. I did my PhD in Bioengineering and Robotics (Bionanotechnology curriculum) at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Genoa, Italy. During my Phd I worked on the development of vasculature-on-chip to study endothelial permeability against small molecules and nanoparticles. I received my BSc in Biotechnology and my MSc in Medical Biotechnology and Nanobiotechnology at University of Salento, Italy with an experimental thesis in Nanofabrication methods and nanoscale analysis for biotech entitled “New bio-composite: growth of nanostructured film-protein on graphene oxide”.

I joined the Chiappini group as a Visiting Postdoctoral Research Associate in October 2020, and my work was to develop CRISPR/Cas-based nanoneedle platform for intracellular sensing. I did my PhD at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and worked on synthesizing noble metal nanowires using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method and developing nanowire-based plasmonic sensors for detection of chemical and biological analytes. Post PhD, I have worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB). My work was focused on developing the CRISPR/Cas-mediated diagnostic platform for detection of multidrug-resistant bacteria and influenza virus. Across this research, I have published 9 first-author and 11 co-author papers.

I graduated in Physics at University of Milan. In Italy, I approached the study of self-assembled nanostructured surfaces as bioactive materials and for applications in the field of microelectronics. I then did my PhD in the Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology, focusing on the synthesis of nanostructured materials, jointed to the use of spectroscopic methods, for the development of new non-invasive strategies of tissue analysis and imaging.

I completed my BSc (Hons) Bioscience degree at University of Suffolk and went on to study the MSc Immunology at King’s College London. Following this, I remained at King’s as a Research Assistant in translational tumour immunology where I worked on a preclinical Cancer Research UK project to establish pharmacodynamic markers for the use of a novel small molecule inhibitor in combination with chemotherapy. I joined the Chiappini lab in October 2017 as a PhD student, my project aimed to develop nanoscale approaches to regulate the phenotype of stem cells for the engineering of mini-livers.

I graduated from the University of Surrey in 2019 with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry. My research project focused on the potential for the production of a universal ‘off-the-shelf’ CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. As part of my undergraduate degree, I also spent an Erasmus year at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, where I worked with an animal model of Multiple Sclerosis. I then went on to study an MPhil in Translational Biomedical Research at the University of Cambridge, where I investigated the genetic basis of certain auto-inflammatory diseases. I joined the Chiappini Lab in September 2020 as a PhD student, to develop a microfluidics-based platform for cell and gene therapy manufacturing applications, as part of a collaborative effort with MicrofluidX.

I joined the Chiappini Lab in October 2021 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. My work focused on the development of the nanoneedle decorated bioresorbable implants as localized drug delivery systems to treat complex coronary vascular diseases. I then became Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD). I obtained my PhD from IIT Roorkee, India, where I explored the role of microbial polysaccharides-based materials for electrospun dermal grafts and skin tissue regeneration. I have received awards and fellowships including DST-INSPIRE Faculty, the Wadhwani Foundation and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).