Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Biomedical scientist with extensive experience in molecular pathology, toxicology, histology, and human anatomy, currently serving as Head of the Department of Biomedicine Histology Core Facility, University of Basel. I lead and support translational, preclinical, and academic research through advanced tissue-based technologies and scientific infrastructure. I hold two Ph.D. degrees: one in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Molecular & Systems Toxicology) from the University of Basel and one in Clinical and Pathological Morphology (Normal Human Anatomy) from the University of Naples “Federico II”. My background integrates mechanistic toxicology, pathology, and anatomy with clinical and preclinical applications. My experience includes Senior Postdoctoral research in Hepatology at University Hospital of Basel and Molecular Pathology and Preclinical Safety research at Novartis, as well as international research at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine (Edinburgh). I also have longstanding teaching and examination roles in Human Anatomy across Medicine, Biotechnology, and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Expertise: Molecular & translational pathology · Systems toxicology · Histology & tissue imaging · Preclinical safety · Hepatology · Core facility leadership · Academic–industry collaboration Publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0259-8611
As head of the Histology Core Facility my duty is to support the development of new histological assays in a multidisciplinary environment (>150 active users of the facility in 66 research groups). In addition I am personally involved in the training of new users, providing them with principle of good laboratory practices (GLP), to identify and propose new equipment and technologies to extend the experimental capabilities in the histology field and to supervise the laboratories, ensuring the proper functioning of the available equipment. From 2019 the Histology Core Facility will be the reference center for a clinical trial on ovarian cancer.
Despite significant advances in hepatology research, the study of liver diseases is still hampered by the lack of in vitro and in vivo systems that accurately reflect the respective pathologies. Human hepatoma cell lines only partially reflect the phenotypical features of human hepatocytes. Primary human hepatocytes (PHH) have proven to be the best model system for studying mechanisms of liver pathologies. However, experimentation with PHHs is limited due to PHH availability, batch to batch variations, loss of metabolic enzyme (CYPs 450) and mesenchymal phenotype shift. In an effort to overcome the availability and variability issues associated with PHHs, it has recently been shown that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) can be effectively differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells (HLC). Although HLCs do show many of the characteristics of PHHs, they still represent an immature hepatocyte phenotype with expression of alphaphetoprotein and other embryonic liver markers. My current project aimed at establishing an innovative in-vitro liver system, taking advantage from the use of primary liver cell culture (derived from human liver needle biopsy) and hepatocyte-like induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived cells.
The analysis of gene expression in heterogeneous tissue is a challenging activity because different cell populations contribute to the global transcriptome in a proportional manner to their abundance and to the magnitude of the level of gene expression. The identification of phenomena occurring in specific cell types is therefore impossible without a histological anchor. Despite several groups have approached this issue using mathematical and statistical analysis, rarely these models were able to describe the tissue complexity and the gene expression profiles thereof. In my project I used the laser capture microdissection to build up a molecular map of livers from three different animal species (rat, dog and monkey). I isolated functional areas of liver parenchyma (periportal and pericentral hepatocytes) and histological entities (bile ducts and portal vessels). This allowed the identification of tissue specific gene expression profiles, used nowadays as reference profiles in preclinical toxicology studies, and allowed the identification of phenomena occurring in specific cell populations in the liver, in response to drug exposure.
Instructor for the “Anatomy Laboratory” course. Inter-University School of Specialization for Secondary School Teaching (S.I.C.S.I.), Naples University “Federico II”
Identifying the molecular pathway alterations derived from oxidative stress and their contribution in post-ischemic heart diseases and aorta aneurysm.