Dr Matilde Balbi

We welcome our newest team member, Dr Matilde Balbi, based at the University of Genoa in Professor Chiara Gentili’s research group. Danielle Nicholson at Pintail Limited asked Matilde questions to become acquainted with her and her work.

Where did you grow up?

I was born and grew up in Genoa.

What and where did you study at university?

I am a pharmacist. I studied at the University of Genoa. As soon as I completed my internship for the experimental thesis, I realized that I would prefer to work behind a bench in a laboratory than in a pharmacy, despite the motivating work experience in a pharmacy when I was a Master’s student.

What was the nature of your PhD project? Where did you do this research?

I did a PhD in Experimental Medicine in the Pharmacology and Toxicology curriculum at the University of Genoa with a thesis entitled: “Group I metabotropic glutamatergic receptors regulating glutamate release and microglia phenotype in a murine model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis”. During my PhD, I spent some time at the University of Lausanne for a pilot research project on the role of astrocytes-derived extracellular vesicles in microglial activation. In the meantime, I have had the chance to collaborate with Prof. Uccelli’s research group to study the neuroprotective effect of extracellular vesicles secreted from mesenchymal stem cells on astrocytes in an in vitro model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

What is your role in AutoCRAT? Describe your work and the techniques/methods/technologies you plan to use.

Since the beginning of the postdoc in AutoCRAT in June, I started a new cell expansion of iMSC SD1, 2 and 3 to recover extracellular vesicles at early (P8) and late phase (P16) to analyse miRNA content. Extracellular vesicles are validated with FACS testing positive (CD90-CD105-CD44) and negative (CD31-CD34-CD45) markers. I extract extracellular vesicles from iMSC SD1 P11-12 to test their therapeutic potential on organ culture in collaboration with LUMC.

In your opinion, what is exciting about working on the AutoCRAT project?

It is exciting for a young researcher to be able to work on a European project and challenge myself with a topic far from my neuropharmacology background. The project involves many collaborations with different research groups that use different techniques and methods to try to give answers to the heterogeneity that characterizes a pathology such as osteoarthritis. The constant comparison between research groups is of great value.

What do you like most about living in (or near) Genoa?

Living in Genoa offers the possibility of having a territory that varies from the mountains to the sea. This allows you to range with the activities to do in your free time and to see contrasting landscapes in a few kilometres.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I love sports: I gladly jog along the sea, hike and ski but  I also go to the swimming pool or gym, especially in autumn and winter.