October 23

Giulia Vitale is a new PhD candidate in the lab! After graduating in the lab in 2022 and a hiatus in a biotech, Giulia joined the lab for a second time to study the genetics and cell biology of CIPO with the support of Telethon Italia. Welcome back Giulia!

September 23

Giulia Vitale is a new PhD candidate in the lab! After graduating in the lab in 2022 and a hiatus in a biotech, Giulia joined the lab for a second time to study the genetics and cell biology of CIPO with the support of Telethon Italia. Welcome back Giulia!

August 23

We are happy to be co-recipient with Seetharaman Parashuraman (CNR-IBBC, Naples, Italy) of a PRIN2022PNRR grant from the Italian ministry of research (MUR) to study in Drosophila the role of glycans in tumorigenesis. Get in touch for more info!

July 23

We are happy to have been awarded a PRIN2022 grant from the Italian ministry of research (MUR) to study in Drosophila to further our study of intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Get in touch for more info!

February 23

We are happy to have been awarded a grant from Telethon Italia to study in Drosophila the genetics of intestinal pseudo-obstruction, a rare congenital syndome that impacts early life. We will open a position on this project soon. Get in touch for more info!

December 22

Deadline for application January 9 2023! Please get in touch for more info.

November 22

Shared work with the group of Maria Grazia Giansanti! Read about how GOLPH3 regulates mTOR signaling and autophagy. The first production of the collaborative work supported by the PRIN 2020 grant.

September 22

Gaia is a new PhD candidate in Traslational Medicine! She got out of the selection as 3nd out of many applicants and she will develop a project in collaboration with Elisa Borghi’s lab.

August 22

Collaborative work with the group of Angelo Poletti! Read about lysosomal damage and autophagy induction associated to Valosin mutations. A companion paper to our previous collaborative work (Rusmini et al 2019).

July 22

A fun collaboration with Davide Tampellini, Chiara Di Malta and Carmine Settembre! We find that TFEB is activated upon synaptic stimulation in models of Tauopaty relevant to Alzheimer and Parkinson disease.

June 22

Francesco won the Ranzi award! Francesco’s master thesis on the generation and characterization of Drosophila mutants of the glycosylation gene Tusc3 was awarded the Ranzi prize for developmental biology.

April 22

Giulia graduated! Giulia defended her Master thesis on the characterization of Drosophila Cathepsin F as a model of Type B Kufs disease earning top marks and honors!

March 22

Pauline’s review about Snap29 is out! An update from the lab on the many novel functions of the SNARE protein Snap29. A fun and engaging read.

December 21

Gaia graduated! Gaia defended her Master thesis on the nutritional effects on the fitness of fly models of CDGs earning top marks and honors!

October 21

Our first PRIN! The lab got awarded a PRIN (Progetti di interesse nazionale – National Interest Projects) grant together with the group of MG Giansanti (CNR Rome) and G Callaini (Uni Siena). We are elated as this is the first time and PRIN is the only basic science grant in Italy (~10% funding rate). Cheers to 3 years support for SNAP29-related science!!

September 21

Giuliana is a new PhD candidate in Molecular and Cellular Biology! She got out of the selection as 2nd out of 63 applicants and she will continue her project in collaboration with Simona Polo’s lab

September 21

Valentina Fajner’s paper is finally out! A tour de force characterization of a new gene that might be relevant to ALS pathogenesis

July 21

Simona is a new PhD candidate in Translational Medicine! She got out of the selection as 5th out of 63 applicants and she will continue her project in collaboration with Valentina Massa

April and June 21

Simona and Francesco graduated! Welcome Dr. Totaro and Lavezzari!

18/5/21

Miriam PhD paper is out! In it we study autophagy and V-ATPase in a genetic model of glioma in Drosophila!

31/3/21

A nice collaboration study with the group of Valentina Massa! We explored the microbiome of Drosophila as a possible model of rare disease!

14/1/21

The last paper of the Snap29 trilogy by Elena and others in the lab has been accepted in Frontiers in cell and developmental biology! In it, we describe the role of Snap29 in trafficking at the ER and Golgi compartments.

8/12/20

A nice collaboration with the group of Andrea Bassi at Polimi. Here we developed a nifty light sheet microscope connected to a microfluidic device for automated dual-color imaging of Drosophila embryos! Link

20/09/20

China presented her work at MyDev2020, the yearly meeting we co-organize with other labs interested in development in Milan, and got an honorable mention!

28/07/20

The great work of Antonio, started in the lab of Hamed Jafar-Nejad and completed in the lab is finally out! Read about Dpp regulation and glycosylation and how this is relevant to patients affected by congenital disorders of glycosylation. Link

12/12/19

Welcome Dr. Speranza – Elisa got her MSc. with top marks and honors

12/10/19

Winter lab pic. L to R: China, Elisa, Francesco, Francesca, Chiara, Giulia, Simona, Antonio, Federica, Th

20/07/19

Group photo with undergrads and summer students (Elisa Speranza – 3rd from left, the marvelous high schoolers from @CusMiBio -5th and 7th from left and Tolgahan Ozer, Erasmus Program summer intern from Turkey- last from left)

18/07/19

Great collaborative work with the group of Valentina Massa UNIMI and others. In which we model aspects of the interactions that might be disrupted in Cornelia de Lange syndrome https://www.nature.com/articles/s41419-019-1792-x

05/07/19

A nice collaboration paper with the group of Stefano Biffo at INGM UNIMI. All about the phenotypic effects of ribosome assembly regulation by eIF6. If you can’t read it at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012160618307966?via%3Dihub pls write to me for access.

28/6/19

We published a technical paper about analyzing ESCRT complexes in Drosophila. First work of talented master student Marco Gualtieri, now a PhD student at Pasteur Institute in Paris. if you cannot read it at https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007%2F978-1-4939-9492-2_2 shoot me an email and I’ll send you a direct link!

1/6/19

We are now part of the ITN SAND investigating unconventional secretion in neurodegeneration!

We have been awarded an European MSCA-ITN mega grant as the Italian unit of a consortium that aims at elucidating the role of trafficking in neurodegenation diseases. Read the details (in Italian) http://lastatalenews.unimi.it/marie-s-curie-innovative-training-networks-finanziati-quattro-progetti-statale. We are seeking an talented PhD student for enrollment in the fall. Details will come soon!

13/2/19

Antonio Galeone wins a Marie Curie Reintegration Fellowship to work in the lab on modeling rare CDG disease in fly! CONGRATS!!

Some press release about recent papers (in italian)

http://www.secoloditalia.it/2019/02/tumori-da-milano-nuove-speranze-per-combattere-il-glioblastoma/

6/2/19

Paper 2 on V-ATPase and oncosomes is out now in EBioMedicine!

https://www.ebiomedicine.com/article/S2352-3964(19)30059-3/fulltext

5/2/19

Paper on V-ATPase deregulation in Glioblastoma is out now in EBioMedicine. Great teamwork with Valentina Vaira at Policlinico, Milano. https://www.ebiomedicine.com/article/S2352-3964(19)30058-1/fulltext

Press release (in Italian)

https://www.insalutenews.it/in-salute/sindrome-di-cednik-dal-pesce-zebra-un-modello-per-lo-studio-della-malattia-rara/

16/12/18

Paper on modeling of CEDNIK in zebrafish in Scientific Reports! Congrats Valeria! Hera the link to read it!

 10/10/18

Sugars and damaged lysosomes with a dash of autophagy is what one needs to prevent neurodegeneration!

Read it here

19/7/18

A tour the force review of non canonical Notch signaling in Molecular Mechanisms of Notch Signaling Book!

Read it here

29/6/18

A small contribution in a nice story about Autophagy and Alzheimer disease in Molecular Psychiatry!

Read it here

21/3/18

Our latest review on the many talents of SNARE protein Snap29, one of our favorite molecules, is out now in Cell Stress!

Read it here

8/3/18

Today’s International Women’s day. Women are the large of majority among the scientists in the lab. Let’s support them in removing every obstacle to science careers they deserve! 

7/3/18

Thomas is co-organizing a EMBL alumni science and networking event in #Milan. Please register for free here and join us on May 3-4, 2018!

21/2/18

Thomas got interviewed by the newspaper “La Stampa” about the designation of Iain Mattaj as suitable future director of Human Technopole. Read it here (in Italian): Intervista La Stampa 21 Febbraio 2018.top

10/12/18

Our department won the 1st Italian Department of Excellence call from the ministry of research and education. >8M€ coming our way for the next 5 years! Thomas was part of the project writing team.

!!Happy Holidays!!

13/12/17

Francesca and Marco defended their master thesis work at UNIMI! Well done!

30/11/17

We won a 5-year grant from the AIRC! Support them so they can support us and other Italian scientists!

October-December 2017

Valeria, Valentina and Victor defended brilliantly their PhD work at SEMM!

Congratulations!

20/10/17

We won a 3-year grant from the Wordwide Cancer Research Charity!

Read about them here.

05/10/17

Radio3scienza interviewed Thomas about the Cryo-EM Nobel.

Listen to the podcast here (in Italian).

04/10/17

New York Times Op-ed by Thomas’ former boss Professor David Bilder of UC Berkeley.

Read his passionate defense of Drosophila’s role in biomedical research!

04/10/17

The 2017 Nobel for Chemistry is awarded to the scientists developing Cryo-EM. 

Read Thomas’ comments about the Nobel for Focus.it (in italian)

26/08/17

Our latest review on ESCRT genes and developmental signaling is out in “Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology”

Read about the the wonders of these great cellular machines that keep us alive and healthy every hour of the day (and night) at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084952116305031?via%3Dihub

08/05/17

The Vaccarilab is featured at the final event of “Deploy Your Talent 2017”! DYT2017 is a program of Fondazione Sodalitas to engage in STEM high school students in the Milan area. Elena Morelli in the lab taught the class about how our lab works and how to choose a career path in science. We hosted the students in the lab for a 1-day tutorial full of enthusiasm and fun –

03/05/17

Follow and join Thomas’ (@vaccart) conversation about science on Twitter

01/05/17

Check out Thomas’ science divulgation articles (Italian) for Scienza in rete