Role
Associate Professor of Medical and Laboratory Technical Sciences (SSD MEDS-26/A); Research Director of the BioNEM (Bio- and Nano-Engineering for Medicine) group at the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro; Co-founder and CEO of the university spin-off Biosentinel.
Bio
After graduating with honors in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Messina, she specialized with honors in Clinical Medical Oncology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. After earning a PhD in Human Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, she conducted research at the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro as a FIRC and AIRC grant recipient, subsequently collaborating with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa on the development of oncology micro- and nanodevices.
She is currently Associate Professor of Medical and Laboratory Technical Sciences (SSD MEDS-26/A) at the University of Catanzaro and is qualified for the role of Full Professor (Frame I, ASN).
At the BioNEM group laboratories, his scientific activity combines cell biology, nanostructured biosensors and elements of artificial intelligence for the development of Lab-on-Chip systems for early multicancer screening, minimal residual disease monitoring and ex vivo drug sensitivity testing.
Creator since 2009 of the patented CHARA.CTEX protocol for the characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTC), she is co-founder and CEO of the university spin-off Biosentinel (2025).
Over the course of her career, she has collaborated with prestigious international institutions (including Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Uppsala, and Leicester) and has been a speaker at official hearings in the Italian Senate and the European Parliament on issues related to AI and cancer prevention.
She was recently awarded the Astrea International Prize (2025) and the "Voices of Women in Science" Award (2026). Director of Masters and advanced training courses in Liquid Biopsy and Precision Medicine, she is the author of over 170 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals (H-index 34) and holds 8 national and international patents.