The University of Padova (IT)
The University of Padova (https://www.unipd.it/) ranks at the top among all Italian universities in seven different disciplines (including Biology, Medicine and Engineering), and it placed at the 1st place in the last surveys of the quality of research in Italy by the National Research Agency (years 2004-10, 2011-14, 2015-2019). It has about 60,000 students, about 2,000 professors, 32 departments, 43 research centers, 8 schools and two hospitals, with a budget of more than 600 million euros. The Department of Molecular Medicine is located in two buildings, together with two other departments of the Schools of Medicine and Biology. The main location is the ten-floor “A. Vallisneri” building, which hosts several centers, including the CRIBI Biotechnology Center and the largest mouse facility of the University. Another seven-floor building, dedicated to lectures, teaching, tutorial activities, training and laboratories, is in operation since 2013. The Department of Molecular Medicine has been highly successful in coordinating and leading several EU-funded projects within the FP6, FP7 and H2020 programmes, including three currently running ERC projects.
The CHANGE team at Padova has a strong background in cell biology and functional genomics, with a long-lasting interest in extracellular matrix and its role in development and disease. During the last decade, their research work was mainly focused in the neuromuscular field, including the mechanisms of autophagy in normal and diseased skeletal muscle and the role of matrix components in peripheral and central nervous system. The team has a broad and long-standing expertise in mouse transgenesis and in the generation and characterization of mouse models for diseases. In the most recent years, our team also developed a broad expertise in zebrafish as a further vertebrate model for investigating mechanisms of development and disease, as well as for drug screening. The team has a solid and proven expertise in characterization of mouse and zebrafish models for neuromuscular, cardiovascular and connective tissue disorders.
Prof Paolo Bonaldo
Supervisor of DC3. Prof Bonaldo is a Full Professor of Cell Biology at the Medical School of the University of Padova and Head of the “Matrix Biology and Functional Genomics” Unit at the Department of Molecular Medicine. From 2006 to 2014, he coordinated the PhD Programme on “Genetics and Molecular Biology of Development” at the University of Padova. Since 2017, he is Director of Vallisneri Life Science Center (“Polo Multifunzionale Vallisneri”), the biomedical research and teaching campus of the University of Padova. In 2016, he co-founded the “MEMMIA” University spin-off for transgenesis and animal model services.
Prof Matilde Cescon
Assistant Professor at the University of Padova in the Department of Molecular Medicine. Dr Cescon is expert in the generation and characterization of in vivo and in vitro models of diseases, with a major focus on the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying Collagen VI-related disorders and on autophagy regulation in myelinating glial cells.
Dr Nicola Facchinello
CNR Researcher. Dr Facchinello has >10 years expertise in a wide range of mechanisms acting during neural, cardiovascular, muscular and endocrine development, and he uses genome engineering approaches in zebrafish and mice for human disease modelling.
Dr Silvia Castagnaro
PostDoc Researcher. Dr Castagnaro has a major interest in the design of preclinical therapeutic strategies for muscular dystrophies, with expertise on in vivo animal models and primary cultures from animal and human tissues.
Dr Dario Bizzotto
Research Assistant