Dr. Anna Urciuolo

Curriculum Vitae

Scopus ID: 6508342717

I was trained as medical biotechnologist in 2007 and then in 2011 I concluded my PhD program in genetics and developmental biology at the University of Padova (Italy). During my post-doctoral career in Italy and UK (University College of London, UCL) I have had the opportunity to join and experience different research environments, embracing and incorporating into my research line basic biology and animal models, together with stem cell technology and bioengineering approaches. My studies have been mainly focused on the role exerted by the environment and the extracellular matrix (ECM) to control stem cells and skeletal muscle in health and disease. After a first post-doc experience at the University of Padova, which studies were focused on muscular dystrophies associate to collagen VI mutations and skeletal muscle regeneration, I moved in UCL where I specialized in tissue engineering strategies (decellularized muscles) for the development of regenerative medicine strategies. In 2016 I moved back in Italy at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padova, where I developed a novel 3D bioprinting technology, named intravital 3D bioprinting. In 2018 I won as PI the STARS@ UNIPD grant (intramural grant supporting talented scientists) with the Dept. of Woman’s and Children’s Health of the University of Padova, and I started my independent career as PI. During this time I focused on human induced pluripotent stem cell technology coupled with organoid and biomaterial science. Since the end of 2019 I’m leading the Neuromuscular Engineering lab at the Pediatric Research Institute “Città della Speranza” (Italy). Since 2021, I have been working at the University of Padua as Associate Professor at the Dept. of Molecular Medicine and I’m holding an honorary Lecturer position at the UCL (UK).
I have published 34 research articles of which 11 as first author (2 reviews and 8 original articles); 7 as corresponding author (3 review and 4 original articles). Overall, I published on top international scientific journals in the field of stem cell and bioengineering, holding an h-index of 20 and 3032 citations (Scopus).