As a biologist I have always been fascinated by the mechanisms and the dynamics of vertebrate development. The way a simple cell progressively transformed its shape and fate to become a highly complex organism, through a series of elegant transitions, make developmental biology one of the most fascinating and intriguing subjects in the whole field of science.

The central nervous system (CNS), especially, with its remarkable complexity in both architecture and function is a very fascinating topic to study. In particular the formation of the telencephalon is intriguing, both for the modality and for the role played by this structure in animal evolution. In humans this region gives rise to the cerebral cortex which encrypts the higher cognitive abilities and the essence of the human being. Shedding light on the development and the evolution of this structure is the first step to understand the complexity of brain.

I became interested in the CNS development during my first degree at the University of Pisa: where I studied the role of the gene PC3 in rat cortex formation and by doing this I obtained my degree in biochemistry and molecular biology. After my graduation I moved to London, to the Anatomy Department at University College of London, where I become interested in the early events required to form the most anterior portion of the CNS: the forebrain. During this period I become acquainted with the zebrafish as animal model. I then started a PhD in Developmental Neurobiology at King's College supported by King's College London Association (KCLA) scholarship. I graduated with the thesis: Antero-posterior patterning of the neural plate in zebrafish. 

At the moment I am working as a Research Scholar at the Biological Imaging Centre at the California Institute of Technology in the States. 

My interests are presently in the biology and the cell dynamics in early zebrafish development. In particular in the mechanism through which cells participate in the formation of the neural plate, the primordium of  central nervous system; the way they assume different shapes and forms and what is the relationship between the shape and the fate of the cell.