My main research interests focus on mitochondrial evolution and molecular phylogenetics, with special reference to the peculiar organellar inheritance termed DUI (Doubly Uniparental Inheritance).
About mitochondrial evolution and DUI, I deal with bivalve comparative mitogenomics and transcriptomics, in order to investigate the role of small noncoding RNAs transcribed from the mitochondrial genome in nucleus-mitochondrion crosstalk and to understand and unravel the evolutionary history of DUI and its relationships with the nuclear genome.
About molecular phylogenetics, I am interested in multi-locus phylogenetic inferences, typically based on mitochondrial genome, with special reference to the phylum of Mollusca and the class of Bivalvia. I am also interested in developing software and pipelines to improve these analyses further and further.
I also work on biology teaching and learning, with special reference to the theory of evolution. More specifically, my work focuses on game-based learning, particularly the use of game, and more in detail boardgame, towards teaching and learning disciplinary contents; in recent years, I took part in the design of a handful of evolution- and general biology-themed boardgames.
