About me

My name is Michele, I'm genuinely curious about our world, and passionate about understanding the biological mechanisms responsible for life, photographing around, and martial arts! Since when I was a kid, I have always been curious about science and inventions! In 1993 watching three times Jurassic Park in theatres and seeing Mr. DNA explaining how to do genome engineering literally stuck me and fed my curiosity! Not long after, in 2000, I remember watching on the national news channel the announcement of the completion of the first Human Genome draft,  at that point, hearing of the possibilities of revealing our genome I decided I wanted to become a scientist (clearly without having a clue of what it meant, since I was still a kid!).  Today, I love talking and discussing science and about the philosophy of science. I believe that scientists can influence our society and contribute to making a better world! My favorite scientists and inventors were Galileo, Archimede, and Rita Levi Montalcini. I find impressive the results they achieved considering the limited resources available at their times!  

Currently, I am a K99 pathway to independence postdoctoral associate and former AICF fellow in Anders Hansen's laboratory at MIT, where I combine genome engineering with super-resolution live-cell microscopy to understand the dynamics of chromatin and how enhancer-promoter interactions activate gene expression. I studied biology at the University of Pisa, Italy, during which I specialized in genetics and breast cancer. Then, I moved to Milan where I had my PhD at the School of European Molecular Medicine,  where I studied how mutations in chromatin regulators cause neurodevelopmental disorders or cancer.

In my free time, I love taking pictures of nature and many other things. Among my favourite photographers, you can find Robert Capa, Ansel Adams, and Sebastiao Salgado. If I am not in the lab or in nature you can probably find me at the MIT gym working on improving my Taekwondo with the MIT club.