Post-doc
Diego completed his master’s thesis in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2019 at Università degli Studi di Milano, working on a project focused on the contribution of the Parkin protein in DNA damage repair in non-cycling cells, specifically neuron-like cells. After this, he did a one year fellowship in collaboration with Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, where he could expand his project using advanced confocal microscopy and primary neurons explanted from mice.
He then proceeded to join a PhD program in Molecular and Cellular biology at the Università degli Studi di Milano, working in the Genome Instability and Human Pathologies group under prof. Marco Muzi Falconi’s supervision. Here he continued his master thesis project, while also investigating multiple aspects of closely-spaced opposing DNA lesions repair. During this period he extensively studied DNA repair pathways such as Nucleotide Excision Repair, Base Excision Repair and Non-Homologous End Joining. In June 2024 he finally concluded this journey with a successful PhD defence.
As of October 2024 he now works as a young Post-doc in the Infection Dynamics group, where he studies primarily Mycobacteria induced senescence in macrophages, particularly the presence of DNA damage in these cells.
In his free time, Diego enjoys listening to music and practicing piano, hiking, 3D printing and playing roleplaying games.