Our team
Arianna Baggiolini, PhD
Group leader, Assistant Professor, Hofschneider Professor
Arianna is a stem cell and cancer biologist.
She was elected Leading Edge Fellow, Gerry fellow of the Gerry Metastasis and Tumor Ecosystems Center (GMTEC) at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and she is a Tri-Institutional Breakout Price awardee. Among other awards, she obtained the SMR Christopher Marshall award from the Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) and the SNSF Starting grant. Since 2024, Arianna has been a laureate of the prestigious Hofschneider Professorship.
Arianna completed her BSc and MSc in Biology at the ETH (Zurich, Switzerland) and her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) in the laboratory of Prof. Lukas Sommer. She then completed her postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA) in the laboratory of Dr. Lorenz Studer.
In her free time, Arianna used to be a Kung Fu trainee of Sifu Vingrove A. Thomas in NYC. Now, back home in Switzerland, she is a slow but passionate runner.
Martina Bellafante
PhD Student
Martina was born in Milan, and after completing her high school Classical studies, she completed a BSc in Biology and then an MSc in Biology Applied to Biomedical Research, both at Università degli Studi di Milano. During the last year of her MSc, she completed a practical training for her thesis in Switzerland at the Laboratory for Ageing Disorders within the EOC, where she studied epigenetics and cellular senescence.
When she’s not in the lab, Martina enjoys photography, walking in nature, learning how to rollerblade, and she also continues her long-lasting family tradition of knitting.
Antonietta Verrillo
PhD Student
Antonietta was born in Magenta and lives in Oggebbio (Verbania, Italy), a small city on the shore of Lake Maggiore. She completed her BSC in Biological Sciences at the UNIUPO (Vercelli, Italy). Antonietta then moved to Milan to complete her MSC in Biology Applied to Biomedical Research at Università degli Studi di Milano. During the Master study, she’s done an Internship in the Regenerative Medicine and Technologies at the EOC, (Lugano, Switzerland), where she studied the role of the tumor microenvironment in 3D models.
During her free time, she likes staying at home with her cats Nala and Simba, visiting museums, and walking in the nature.
Raffaele Luongo, PhD
Scientist
Raffaele comes from a small town in southern Italy, and he obtained his BSc in Biological Science and MSc in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Pisa (Italy). During his MSc thesis internship, he started his journey in the stem cell field, working on Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs). He then moved in the "Stem Cell and Organoid Epigenetics lab" led by Prof. Giuseppe Testa at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO), in Milan for his doctoral training in Molecular Oncology. During his PhD, he was awarded a 3-year AIRC fellowship for his work on Ovarian Cancer organoids.
When outside the lab, Raffaele loves playing video games, hanging out with friends, working out at the gym, and visiting new places.
Emiliano Pasquini,
Translational Operation Manager
Emiliano was born in Rome where he completed his MSc in Medical Biotechnology at the University La Sapienza working on Liver Zonation.
He has also obtained a postgraduate specialization in Business Management Systems where he had the opportunity to work extensively on SOPs drafting and external audit activities.
He moved to Bellinzona in 2015 as laboratory and in vivo operation manager at IOR in Andrea Alimonti’s lab (Molecular Oncology Lab), where he started to work in the field of cancer.
During the last years, he has extensively worked as coordinator for in vivo experimentation. He’s activities are mainly focused on writing and presenting mice experimentation licenses to Cantonal Committee in full observance of Federal Ordinance and 3Rs values, performing and teaching experimental procedures, management of transgenic mouse lines and animal resources.
During his free time Emiliano enjoys travelling around the world, reading books and he has a big passion for movies.
Neelima Pradeep Vasantham
PhD Student
Neelima, originally from Kerala, India, holds an Integrated Master's in Biology from the University of Mumbai-DAE-CEBS. Her Master's dissertation included generation of reporter lines to investigate transcription factor heterogeneity in human embryonic stem cell lines. She later worked as a Research Assistant at the IMP in Vienna, focusing on developing tools to study tumor evolution in metastatic niches.
In her free time, Neelima enjoys window shopping, improving her culinary skills, and spending time with loved ones.
Jonas van Lent, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jonas holds a Master's degree in Biochemistry & Biotechnology from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. In 2019, he pursued his PhD in the group of Prof. Vincent Timmerman at the same university, focusing on Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) research by elucidating molecular mechanisms and utilizing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to gain new insights into the disease.
During his PhD, Jonas received a FWO grant to conduct part of his research in the lab of Prof. Bruce Conklin in San Francisco (Gladstone Institutes, UCSF). He had the privilege of presenting his findings at several conferences with platform talks. In 2023 he received an ABMM research grant, and was honored to receive the P.K. Thomas prize at the PNS meeting in Copenhagen. In September 2023 he was also featured in the '40 under 40' article for his significant contributions to CMT research.
Currently, Jonas is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Prof. Arianna Baggiolini, where he continues to work with iPSC-derived models with a specific interest for the peripheral nervous system. In his free time, Jonas enjoys laughter, travel, and pursuing adventurous activities
Alessandro Nepote
MD
Visiting Research Fellow
Alessandro was born in Turin, where, after completing his medical degree, he is currently doing his residency in medical oncology. Since 2021 he started working with patients affected by melanoma with an advanced disease. During his career, he has followed some melanoma clinical trials as a sub-investigator, including phase 1-2 clinical trials. Now, he is focusing on translational research, especially on melanoma brain metastasis.
During his free time, Alessandro really enjoys visiting cities, participating to movies exhibitions, and laying on the beach.
Lisa Pavinato
PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
After completing her MSc in Medical Biotechnologies, in 2018 Lisa pursued her PhD in Medical Genetics, which was partially done at the University of Turin (Italy) and partially at the Uniklinik Köln (Germany). She has mainly worked in the field of neurogenetics, unravelling the genetics behind neurodevelopmental disorders using iPSC-derived neuronal models. Thanks to her work, two novel genes have been associated with rare genetics neurodevelopmental disorders.
During her career she has been awarded for her stays abroad with research grants from DAAD, EMBO and CorEuStem. She presented her work at several genetics and neuroscience conferences as platform talks and she was finalist for the Charles J. Epstein Trainee Awards (ASHG 2021) and Early Career Award (ESHG 2022), and winner of the best oral presentation at SIGU conference 2021. She has also served as abstract reviewer and moderator for genetics conferences. In 2024, she has been awarded by the Italian Ministry of Health for her work in the field of the genetics of rare diseases.
Currently, she continues to work with iPSC-derived models, with a specific interest in generating new platforms to model genetic conditions.
In her free time, she loves to read, travel, and explore new places.
