Research Fellow at the Human Micriobiomics Unit (DIMEC), on the EU project entitled SoluTions foR mItiGatinG climate-induced hEalth thReats (TRIGGER, Horizon Europe Framework Programme).
PhD in Biotechnological, Biocomputational, Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences (FaBiT), he conducts research in the field of the human microbiota, with particular interest in the relationships between microbial communities, host physiology, disease and response to therapy.
His work integrates experimental, bioinformatic and biostatistical expertise. He is involved in the analysis of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, with particular focus on microbiome datasets generated through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics, as well as in the development and implementation of reproducible bioinformatic pipelines and the statistical analysis of microbiological, clinical and multi-omics data.
Alongside his research activities, he is involved in the administration and management of High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructures dedicated to scientific research, including the configuration and maintenance of computing environments, management of bioinformatic software and databases, and optimisation of workflows for execution on computing clusters.
He also contributes to the development of bioinformatic tools and pipelines for microbiome research, available through GitHub, and provides methodological and computational support to collaborative research projects.
Education
- 2021 - 2025: PhD in Biotechnological, Biocomputational, Pharmaceutical, and Pharmacological Sciences (B2F2).
Thesis Title: The human microbiota in cancer: unraveling microbial roles in hematological malignancies and colorectal cancer.
- 2018 - 2021: Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (LM-9) at the University of Bologna, School of Pharmacy and Biotechnology.
Thesis Title: Development of microfluidic culture techniques for studying the spread of neurodegenerative diseases.
- 2015 - 2018: Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology (L-2) at the University of Bologna, School of Pharmacy and Biotechnology.
Thesis Title: Effect of the antioxidant N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) on the preservation of ovarian tissue undergoing cryopreservation.
Research and Training Experience
- 2024–Present: Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Human Microbiomics Unit (HMU), DIMEC, University of Bologna
Research activities within the European TRIGGER project, focusing on the study of the human microbiota and its associations with clinical and environmental factors. His work includes the management and bioinformatic and biostatistical analysis of complex datasets, the development and implementation of workflows for NGS data, and computational support for research projects carried out within the Unit.
He is also involved in the management of the research group's HPC infrastructure, including Linux environments and workload scheduling systems, installation and maintenance of scientific software and databases, management of containerised workflows, and optimisation of bioinformatic pipelines for execution on computing clusters.
His software development activities include the design of pipelines and tools aimed at making microbiome analyses more automated and reproducible. These include FUNCMAP, a Nextflow pipeline for functional profiling and antimicrobial resistance gene profiling from shotgun metagenomic data; KEGGSearch, an R package for retrieving and integrating functional information from KEGG; and microbAIDeR, developed collaboratively to facilitate exploratory and statistical analysis of microbiome data.
His activities also include support for study design, statistical data analysis, preparation of scientific manuscripts and research proposals for national and European funding programmes, as well as training and support for students, PhD candidates and collaborators in the use of bioinformatic and statistical tools.
He also contributed to the establishment and launch of AlmaMicrobiome, the University of Bologna research biobank dedicated to the human microbiota, developed within the PNRR Strengthening BBMRI.it project. In particular, he was involved in the planning and implementation of the new research infrastructures, contributing to the definition and procurement of scientific and IT equipment, as well as to the refurbishment and reorganisation of facilities and the subsequent commissioning of the new laboratories and biobank.
- 2021–2024: PhD Researcher – Human Microbiomics Unit (HMU), DIMEC, University of Bologna
PhD research focused on the study of the human microbiota in different pathological contexts, mainly in patients with haematological malignancies and colorectal cancer. During this period, he investigated the relationships between the human microbiota, host physiology and disease across several research projects funded by national research associations, the Italian Ministry of Health and European programmes. He also acted as co-supervisor for undergraduate and Master's students carrying out curricular internships and thesis projects at the Human Microbiomics Unit.
- 2021: Master's Degree Internship – FaBiT, University of Bologna
Internship carried out at the Nanobiotechnology Laboratory of Prof. Giampaolo Zuccheri, where he acquired expertise in spheroid and organoid culture techniques aimed at validating novel approaches for anticancer drug screening. During this period, he was involved in the design and fabrication of microstructured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) devices for three-dimensional cell culture. His Master's thesis project focused on the development of a microfluidic culture system for morphological and immunocytochemical analyses using optical and fluorescence microscopy, with the aim of investigating the spreading of neuroinflammation and the associated neurodegenerative processes.
- 2018: Bachelor's Degree Internship – Unit of Gynaecology and Human Reproductive Pathophysiology, Sant'Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital
Internship carried out within the research group of Dr Raffaella Fabbri, working on ovarian tissue cryopreservation and subsequent transplantation aimed at restoring ovarian function in young cancer patients undergoing intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
