Dr. Valentina Poletti

Curriculum Vitae

Scopus ID: 25655343700
Valentina Poletti is Assistant Professor of Genetics in the Department of Woman’s and Child’s Health of University of Padova and Jr group leader at the Pediatric Research Institute “Città della Speranza” (Padua, Italy). She is a scientist at the boundary between basic and applied science, with a deep knowledge of basic molecular and cell biology (transcriptional regulation, provirus-genome interaction, design of regulatory elements and vectors, human HSC homeostasis and differentiation) and a significant experience acquired over more than 15 years in ex vivo GT applied to multiple genetic diseases (skin, immunodeficiencies, hemoglobinopathies and lysosomal storage diseases). During her years of work in Italy, France (Genethon) and USA (Dana Farber/Harvard University) she developed competences in hematology, Hematopoietic Stem Cell (HSC) transplantation and animal models of disease, and contributed to Clinical Trial Authorization (CTA)-enabling studies of GT that enabled two clinical trials in USA (X-linked SCID) and France (sickle-cell disease). She has been Faculty member of Harvard Medical School from 2019 to 2023, and she was awarded of a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship in 2020 to establish her laboratory in Italy.
She has an H-index of 13 (Scopus), 20 high-rank publications among original articles and reviews from 2008 to date, in the top 25% journals, including Molecular Therapy and family journals (Methods and Clinical Development, Nucleic Acids), EMBO Molecular Medicine, Human Gene Therapy and Scientific Reports. She is co-inventor of two patented regulated promoters to express therapeutic genes.
Her laboratory is focused on the development of innovative, safe and efficient GT strategies for hemoglobinopathies and neurometabolic diseases caused by β-Galactosidase deficiency.