Giulia Zanetti is a Pharmaceutical Biotechnologist with a strong interest in molecular biology and cancer research. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology in 2020 and her Master's degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology in 2022, with honors, from the University of Perugia (Italy).

Since 2019, to write her thesis for both degrees, she worked as a trainee in a Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory at the Department of Medicine and Surgery, General Pathology section, of the University of Perugia (Italy). Within her experimental thesis she focused on the dynamic localisation of HOPS (Hepatocyte Odd Protein Shuttling) during cytokinesis and its interactions with key proteins involved in proliferation regulation. This project aimed to gain deep knowledge of the molecular basis of cellular proliferation for potential diagnostic and therapeutic advancements in oncology.

After her Master's, she completed a 9-month Erasmus traineeship at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam, investigating resistance mechanisms to FGFR2 inhibitors in breast cancer within Jos Jonkers's research group.

In November 2023, Giulia began her Ph.D. journey in Professor Kees Jalink's laboratory at the Netherlands Cancer Institute within the MSCA Doctoral Network FLImagin3D project where her project is focused on advanced microscopy techniques, such as FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) and FLIM (Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy) to investigated the dynamic of cell signaling pathways.

Project description:

Her Ph.D. project is focused on studying the dynamics of cell signaling pathways in FRET-FLIM-based pooled screening assays. This approach involves using viral CRISPR gene knockout libraries to randomly knock down one single gene per cell within a large cell population. The data generated from this assay is going to be subjected to image-based analysis using novel machine learning algorithms that will allow the proper and logical classification of the knockout.

MSCA PhD Candidate

The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam (NL)

Division of Cell Biology (B.5.034)

g.zanetti@nki.nl | giulia_zanetti@live.it

FRET biosensor improved for FLIM

Dynamic Genetic Screening: Workflow