{"id":5652,"date":"2021-08-04T12:40:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T12:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/?page_id=5652"},"modified":"2023-04-03T12:25:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T12:25:23","slug":"embl-in-italy-2016","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/alumni\/embl-in-events\/embl-in-italy\/embl-in-italy-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"EMBL in… Italy 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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La Sapienza, Rome, 27 May 2016<\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Participants of the “EMBL in Italy” event. PHOTO: EMBL\/Isabelle Kling
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The first \u2018EMBL in Italy\u2019 event, hosted by EMBL Monterotondo Heads Phil Avner and Cornelius Gross, was held in Rome, where EMBL has its largest number of Italy-resident alumni. 80 alumni and their networks gathered at La Sapienza University to hear about EMBL Monterotondo’s research directions in epigenetics and neurobiology, to share their current works and interests and to find out more about resources and opportunities available to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We interviewed two of the speakers to find out more.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Marco Tripodi: EMBL\u2019s early excitement<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Marco Tripodi
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Now<\/strong>: Professor, La Sapienza University, Rome.
EMBL Heidelberg: Postdoctoral Fellow, Genome Biology, Melli group, 1981\u20134.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EMBL was already an exciting place in the early 80s: both the institute and the Gene Expression Programme (now Genome Biology Unit) were very young, powered by a small but vibrant community of around 200 scientists. We all had the feeling of being part of something new and exciting, which would allow us to open new \u2018boxes\u2019 of knowledge without the pressure to deliver specific applications.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Breaking boundaries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong in my memory are \u201cwow!\u201d conferences covering the discovery of the first oncogenes, as well as Walter Gehring\u2019s landmark talk on Antennapedia<\/em>. This spirit of going beyond current knowledge and always preparing for the next steps has shaped my approach to science. During my EMBL years, I studied transcription mediated by polymerase 2 and 3, mostly in liver cells. Like most alumni, I specialised after leaving EMBL \u2013 but I also kept one eye on the \u2018bigger picture\u2019. I still work on the same tissue, but new technologies and \u2018big data\u2019 are allowing us to dig much deeper into the complexity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next-generation scientists<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the talks at the “EMBL in Italy” event were focused on networks of molecules: I find this topic absolutely fascinating! As a professor, I want to convey this fascination for learning to my students and in turn make a strong contribution to training the next generation of motivated young scientists.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Valeria Carola: Connecting ideas and discovery<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Valeria Carola
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Now<\/strong>: Team leader, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome.
EMBL Monterotondo: Postdoctoral Fellow, Gross group, 2003-9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five years as a postdoc in Cornelius Gross\u2019 group have proven crucial to my career as a researcher. They were also extremely enjoyable from a personal perspective: EMBL really is a place that cares for its staff and where you are certain to meet great people.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Creative connections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before my postdoc, my research focus was on behaviour and I used very little molecular biology. Studying gene expression and its links to the environment with Cornelius Gross allowed me to bridge that gap and make contributions to understanding the connections between experiences animals have as youngsters and their behaviour later in life. Cornelius is a great inspiration and a very important colleague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing light to behaviour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My current work focuses on the impact of the environment on young animals and the onset of mental health disorders later in their lives. We proved that mice pups who grow up in an aggressive environment tend to be more prone to cocaine addiction as adults; on the other hand, pups who grow alone, with little social interactions, tend to be more prone to depression in their adulthood. In both cases we are able to link the behaviours to specific gene expression patterns, and that could give us clues to understanding similar patterns in humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isabelle Kling<\/em><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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