The R2NiTO team
Such ordinary people
The R2NiTO teamSuch ordinary people
M.Eng., Ph.D.
Matteo was born in Lecco (IT) and graduated in Biomedical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 2005. He began his research career as a junior fellow at the IRCCS E. Medea Institute (Bosisio Parini, IT), where he modeled the impact of genetic variation on alternative splicing. He obtained a Ph.D. in Complex Systems in Genomics from the University of Turin in 2010, during which he trained in Jernej Ule’s group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge, UK), focusing on protein–RNA interactions. Following his doctoral studies, Matteo pursued postdoctoral research at the European Institute of Oncology and later at King’s College London in Francesca Ciccarelli’s group. There, he investigated tumor evolution, heterogeneity, and drug resistance, contributing to large-scale cancer genome sequencing programs. In 2017, he received his first AIRC grant to study the deregulation of alternative splicing in cancer and established the Cancer Genomics and Bioinformatics Laboratory at the Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine, within the IRCCS Candiolo Cancer Research Center (Candiolo, IT). Since 2021, he has been Associate Professor at the Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology at the University of Milan. Since October 2025, Matteo leads the RNA regulatory network in translational oncology laboratory at IFOM ETS - the AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology. His interdisciplinary research bridges computational and molecular biology with translational oncology. His lab is focused on dissecting RNA production through an engineering-driven perspective, integrating advanced analytical frameworks, including artificial intelligence, with high-resolution molecular technologies such as large-scale third-generation sequencing. His overarching goal is to deepen the mechanistic understanding of RNA regulatory networks in heterogeneous contexts and expand the therapeutic potential of RNA-based interventions in clinical settings. Matteo is interested in:
SEMM Ph.D. student
Mariachiara graduated in Bioinformatics for Computational Genomics at the University of Milan and Polithecnic Univesisty of Milan in 2022 with a dissertation on MYC-driven co- and post-transctional regulation in prostate cancer. During her master thesis project Mariachiara analyzed long-read direct mRNA sequencing data generated using Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Since October 2022 Mariachiara joined the Ph.D. program at the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM) from the University of Milan. Mariachiara is interested in:
SEMM Ph.D. student
Tommaso graduated in Bioinformatics at the university of Bologna in 2021 presenting a new algorithm for the reconstruction of gene co-expression networks.He joined our lab in 2023 firstly as a research fellow and then entering the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM) from the University of Milan. His interests are:
Research Fellow
Gabriele graduated in Bioinformatics at the University of Bologna in 2024 with a thesis project centered on the application of Spatial Transcriptomics for the analysis of mouse lung adenocarcinoma datasets. He joined our lab in late 2024 as a research fellow. His interests are:
Ph.D. student
Debora graduated in Genetics and Molecular Biology at the Sapienza University with a dissertation on whole exome sequencing in the diagnosis of rare diseases. Currently a PhD student at the school of biomedical sciences and oncology at the University of Turin Her interests are:
Research fellow
Federica partecipated in the genomic analyses of pediatric sarcomas of patients enrolled within the Genomic Profiles Analysis in Children, Adolescents and Young Adult With Sarcomas (NCT04621201).
Ph.D.
Serena provided a strong contribution with her bioinformatics analyses in the majority of our research projects since the opening of the lab, from DNA to RNA in a wide range of cancer types, from her master thesis up to her postdoc activity. She is now teacher at secondary high school!
Ph.D.
Mara managed the experimental studies of our research projects, contributing to the develoment and test of ASOs to challange new RNA targets. She is now part of grant office at the University of Milan.
Ph.D.
Francesca contributed to the development of a novel version of RNAmotifs aiming at associate multivalent RNA motifs with cognate trans-acting factors under a condition of interest. During her PhD she partecipated at the identification of novel actionable RNA defeacts in bone sarcomas enrolled within he Genomic Profiles Analysis in Children, Adolescents and Young Adult With Sarcomas (NCT04621201) Trial.
Ph.D.
Sarah contributed to the development of a version of GSECA aiming at detecting altered gene sets from single cell RNA sequencing data. During her PhD she analyzed the adaptation of medulloblastoma transcriptomes upon chemiotherapy. She now is into industry!
Ph.D.
Sinha analyzed direct mRNA Nanopore sequencing data in prostate cancer. She is now Bioinformatics Scientist at Al Jalila Children's Speciality Hospital (AJCH) in Dubai!
Ph.D.
Livia contributed to the experimental validations of FOXA1-mediated regulation of alternative splicing in prostate cancer. During the mounths spent in our lab she was also responsible for the devolopment of several other projects aiming at understanding alternative splicing regulation in cancer. She is now post-doc in the Epigenetics Lab of Prof Oliviero at the University of Turin!
Ph.D.
Marco contributed to the identified of pioneer transcription factor FOXA1 as the key controller of alternative splicing in prostate cancer. His contribution revealed that FOXA1 controls selection of splice variants that predict disease relapse and might be new drug targets to improve patient survival. He is now data scientist at industry!
Research Fellow
Alberto importantly contributed to the improvment of RNAmotifs, which can now associate multivalent RNA motifs with cognate RNA binding proteins. He is data scientist at industry!
Internship student
Lucilla analyzed DNA somatic alterations in pediatric Ewing's sarcoma.
Research Fellow
Fabiola extensively worked on long-read Oxford Nanopore Technologies and traditional short-read Illumina sequencing approaches. She now moved to pharma!
Ph.D.
Jessica was involved in trascriptomic analyses of breast cancer chemioresistant tumors. She is now professor at secondary high school and still free-lance bioinformatician collaborating with us!
Greta worked on the characteziation of tumor evolution within the Genomic Profiles Analysis in Children, Adolescents and Young Adult With Sarcomas (NCT04621201) Trial, focusing on DNA somatic alterations. She decided to foster her training in Biology and she is now enrolled in postgraduate school of Medicine at the University of Parma.
Ph.D.
Federica was the first biologist post-doc in our lab. She contributed to settle our experimental biology lab, implementing the Oxford Nanopore Technologies direct mRNA protocol and the Lexogen CORALL protocol for total mRNA sequencing. She is now teacher at secondary high school!
We discuss our ideas with talented people:
Armenise/Harvard Laboratory of Molecular Oncology
Turin, IT
Bioinformatics lab
Bosisio Parini, IT
Department of Theoretical Physics
Turin, IT
UroSplice lab
London, UK
Dept. of Life Sciences & Systems Biology
Epigenetics Lab
Turin, IT
Armenise/Harvard Laboratory of Integrative Genomics
Naples, IT
Cancer Systems Biology lab
London, UK
RNA Regulatory Networks lab
London, UK
