Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit - People
Prof. Stefano Campanaro
My current position is Associate Professor in Molecular Biology at the Department of Biology (UniPd). I explore the intricate world of microbial ecosystems, spanning from anaerobic digestion to fermented foods and the human gut. Leveraging my expertise in molecular biology, computation, and microbiology, I delve into the study of microbial populations genomes, evolution, and ecology through cutting-edge 'omics strategies.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9431-1648
https://sites.google.com/site/stefanocampanaro/
Dr. Laura Treu
Being in international laboratories, I specialized in molecular biology and microbial ecology to investigate carbon cycling, bioenergy production, and CO2 capture. As Senior Researcher (RtdB) at the Department of Biology, I've advanced bioinformatics for omics, exploring single microorganisms and communities. I study molecular and metabolic mechanisms shaping environmental microbiomes, building metabolic models for process optimization and integrating omics with flux balance analysis.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5053-4452
Dr. Guido Zampieri
Physicist and bioinformatician by education, my main interest is to explore, develop, and apply computational techniques to address challenges in molecular systems biology, aiming to cross and overcome disciplinary boundaries. I have specialized in integrating machine learning and constraint-based modeling for determining genotype-phenotype relationships across various ‘omics and organisms and, as a Junior Researcher (RTDa), I am now focussed on studying how those relationships influence both the natural and engineered microbial world.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4518-5913
Dr. Esteban Orellana
After finishing my PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, I started a Postdoctoral position at the University of Padova. I am currently focused on unraveling the intricacies of the Biogas upgrading process, employing a combination of metabolic flux balance analysis, metatranscriptomics, and biochemical characterization. Additionally, I investigate the nuanced dynamics within the microbial community through the exploration of phage-host interactions.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4899-0915
Dr. Tatiana Spatola Rossi
I am currently working as a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Padova, focusing on CO2 fixation by microorganisms and its bioconversion into value-added products. Previously I carried out my PhD at the University of Oxford working on bacterial methane-consuming enzymes and their recombinant expression in plants. My main background is in genetic engineering, microscopy and molecular biology applied to microbial and plant biotechnology processes.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0798-8037
Dr. Alessandro Satta
I currently serve as a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Padova, specializing in the microbial enzymatic degradation of plastics. My research has strongly focused on biotechnology of plants and microorganisms. I completed my master’s degree in Plant Biotechnology at University of Sassari, Italy. I later moved to Valencia, Spain, where I worked at IMBCP in the field of plant synthetic biology. I then relocated to Australia, where I pursued my Ph.D. at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. My doctoral research centered on metabolic engineering, protein expression, and systems biology of cyanobacteria.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1544-7230
Dr. Mengyuan Ji
I recently finished my PhD in biosciences at the University of Padova. My MSc and PhD were in Environmental Engineering and Bioinformatics, respectively. My recent research focuses on exploring the potential of microbiomes with biotechnological relevance for microplastic degradation and anaerobic digestion. I utilize metagenomics and genomic metabolic modeling for the identification of functionally specific microorganisms and correlation networks. Recently, I've developed an interest in data mining for viral and plasmid information based on metagenomics.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3554-2953
Dr. Nicola De Bernardini
I am a Ph.D. student in biosciences at the University of Padova, with master's and bachelor's degrees in biology and bioinformatics, respectively. My research focuses on exploring the potential of microbiomes with biotechnological relevance for the biogas upgrading process. To disentangle the complexity of the microbial consortium involved in the process it requires fine integration of molecular and bioinformatics approaches. I apply metagenomics and genome scale modeling to define the composition of microbiomes and reconstruct snapshots of their metabolic interaction.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3887-737X
Dr. Maria Silvia Morlino
I have a background in both biotechnology and bioinformatics. I am currently a Ph.D. student at the school of Biosciences, University of Padova, working under the CooCE European project. I work on the optimization of a bioprocess which employs the bacterium Cupriavidus necator to capture the CO2 in biogas and convert it to polyhydroxyalkanoates. I perform growth trials to test several aspects of the bioprocess in lab-scale and I integrate biochemical data with genomic and transcriptomic experiments. I am also curating a strain-specific model of C. necator DSM 545.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9443-1597
Dr. Edoardo Bizzotto
I am a Ph.D. student in biosciences at the University of Padova; I have a master’s degree in Computational Biology and a bachelor's in Biotechnology. My research is focused on applying machine learning techniques to bioactive peptides and more in general on microbial genomes, in order to find hidden features that could help with the identification of new functions. I also have experience in metagenomic techniques and transcriptomics.
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9948-9986
Dr. Gabriele Ghiotto
I am a PhD student in biosciences at the University of Padova, holding a master's and bachelor's degrees in molecular biology. My current research focuses on exploring the potential of microbiomes with biotechnological relevance using advanced genomics and transcriptomics strategies. Specifically, I investigate the interconnection between the performance and stability of anaerobic reactors in biofuels production, delving into the microbiome composition and its evolution influenced by environmental parameters.
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6600-4272
Dr. Sofia Fraulini
I am a Ph.D. student in biosciences at the University of Padova with a master's degree in Molecular Biology and a bachelor's in Genomics. My current research aims to integrate machine learning techniques and metagenomic analysis to investigate the environmental adaptation skills of microorganisms, exploring genetic variants as drivers for adaptation.
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2407-8643
Dr. Davide Sanguineti
I am a Ph.D. student in biosciences at the University of Padova; I have both a master’s and a bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology. My research is focused on the improvement of biotechnological processes through the management of the microbial communities performing them. For this purpose, I apply various bioinformatic methods.
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0152-4570
Dr. Davide Santinello
I am a Ph.D. student in biosciences at the University of Padova. I have a MS degree in Molecular Biology and a BS degree in Biology. My research is focused on investigating the characteristics of different S. cerevisiae strains for wine production, exploring the effect of polymorphisms, gene content variation and gene expression through bioinformatics.
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1074-7341
Dr. Filippo Savio
I am a Research Assistant at the University of Padova. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology and Master's degree in Industrial Biotechnology, with a thesis on the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by Cupriavidus necator in response to physiological stress for carbon dioxide capture. Currently, my research revolves around anaerobic communities. I employ single-cell methods to facilitate genomic and transcriptomic studies at the individual organism level within mixed microbial communities
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8428-6559
Dr. Maria Chiara Valerin
I am a Research Assistant at the Department of Biology (UniPd), with a master's and bachelor's degrees in molecular biology. My current research is focused on the characterization of microbial consortia for the production of biogas using next-generation sequencing techniques.
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7312-4392
Stefano Minto
I’m a student of the University of Padua. I have a bachelor degree in Biotechnology and I’m completing a master in Data Science (biological curriculum). I'm in Genomics and Bioinformatics research unit of the Biology Department for an Internship, during this period I’ve worked on machine learning learning models for try to discover new proteins associated with plastic degradation with a particular focus on PET.
Marco Demo
I’m a student at the University of Padua majoring in Biology and currently pursuing a master's degree in Evolutionary Biology. For my internship, I am working with the bacterium Cupriavidus necator as part of the European CooCe project with the aim of obtaining PHA from volatile fatty acids and carbon dioxide.