Brilliant, pragmatic, passionate and React4lifer…She is Giorgia, our Biotechnologist!
Giorgia, tell us about yourself, who are you and what do you do when you are not in the laboratory in Vimodrone?
I am a reader, I love travelling and I always look for new experiences to do, from taking a cocktail in the smallest bar in the world to paragliding.
What are your educational and professional experiences (focus on scientific details) before becoming a react4lifer?
I was always passionate about the biotechnology field, in fact I have a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology and currently I am attending a master’s degree in Industrial biotechnology. However, the most formative and important experience for me was being a “Summer student” at the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacological Research in Milan, where I was able to appreciate on a practical level many of the knowledges learned during my studies.
How is your typical day in the laboratory dealing with MIVO and cells?
Let’s say that it is difficult to talk about a constant routine in lab, given that aims and needs change constantly: however, I find this an advantage, as it allows me to acquire skills and experiences in different areas. However, I usually take care of cultivating cells that we’ll use for experiments and I use MIVO device in different configurations to better understand the most disparate possibilities of use.
As a scientist, what do you expect from this new experience?
From this experience, I expect to continue learning many things, to become able to design and manage complex experiments independently and to have the opportunity to touch different research areas.
Speaking of microfluidic systems and 3D models, do you think they are the future of research? How do you imagine React4life in ten years?
Absolutely yes: I think that microfluidic models, MIVO in the first place, will be the focus of research activities in the coming years as they allow us to get as close as possible to recreating in vitro what really happens in our body. In this perspective, I think that the future that lies ahead for React4life will be to enter an increasingly global market, becoming a large multinational company.
What are the benefits of working with an organ-on-chip like MIVO?
The great advantage of organ-on-chips is the possibility of recreating and then studying in vitro a model of something as complex as an organ: these supports allow a much more physiological cellular differentiation and organization, while the fluidic system contributes to a more efficient distribution of nutrients and signaling molecules compared to a simple 2D culture, making crosstalk studies between different cell types feasible.
One more question, what are the main challenges of biomedical research for you?
In my opinion, the main challenge that the biomedical research has to face to date is the optimization of alternative models that will allow the development of high throughput screening systems in order to have personalized therapies for patients suffering from different diseases, such as cancers, autoimmune diseases and genetic diseases.