Growing up in Verona, Italy, my parents fostered in me a love of learning. I have always been very inquisitive, with a great interest in travel, languages and cultures. During the last year of my master’s degree, I joined a study abroad program at the University of Stockholm, Sweden, where I undertook a project studying familial amyloid polyneuropathy—a life-threatening disorder most commonly due to a mutated protein called transthyretin. During this time, my passion for discovery became well defined, and I knew right away that I wanted to become a scientist.
After graduating with my master’s degree, I stayed in Stockholm and joined the laboratory of Dr. Larsson at the Karolinska Institute. I received my Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2006. For my dissertation, I reconstituted mammalian mitochondrial transcription in vitro using only pure recombinant proteins.
After earning my Ph.D., I moved to the United States to continue my scientific training. I took a postdoctoral position at the University of Rochester, N.Y., where I worked in Dr. Maquat’s laboratory on nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), a type of mRNA quality control. Next, I moved to Kansas City, Mo., where I pursued RNA-related research in Dr. Baumann’s laboratory at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, studying the biogenesis of human telomerase RNA.
I joined Utah Tech University as an assistant professor in 2014. My current research examines the physical and functional interactions between two human non-coding RNAs—the human telomerase RNA (hTR) and the RNA component of the mitochondrial RNA-processing ribonuclease (hMRP)—mutations of which cause dyskeratosis congenita (DKC) and cartilage hair hypoplasia (CHH) in humans. I am inspired by seeing students’ enthusiasm for science and research grow and am especially excited when I see women pursuing ambitious goals in science and medicine. I am a strong advocate for women in STEM.
In my free time, I enjoy running, cooking and spending time with my family. I also love anything Italian!