Biography
- Giulia concluded her PhD in the field of microfabrication and organs-on-a-chip (2020) at Sapienza, University of Rome, conducting her research as an affiliate at the Italian Institute of Technology, IIT (CLNS@Sapienza). In November 2019, Giulia moved to Sydney and started working at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI) on mechanobiology projects using the novel Acoustic Force spectroscopy tool. In September 2020 Giulia started a postdoctoral position at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and in December 2021 she obtained the fellowship “Woman in Early Career Research FEIT, UTS” that allowed her to continue her project in discovering new molecular targets driving brain tumour function using space mechanobiology and simulated microgravity approaches.
Her expertise is at the interface with microfabrication, mechanobiology and tissue engineering to develop biological platform mimicking vascularized tumour tissue and replicate the native 3D microenvironment, including mechanical and structural inputs. Since November 2022, Giulia has joined Kilian Lab to explore new synthetic materials to include in her sophisticated systems and elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in tumour cells invasiveness. As a parallel project she will also have a look at the role of local dynamic biophysical cues in cell fate decision-making using human iPSCs with the final goal to develop vascularized organoids-on-a-chip.
- contact: g.silvani@unsw.edu.au
Projects
- - Developing vascularized tumour tissue for migration and tumour metastasis studies.
- - Investigating the role of dynamic biophysical cues in early gastrulation process in-vitro.
Publications
- G. Silvani, C. Scognamiglio, D. Caprini, L. Marino, M. Chinappi, G. Sinibaldi, G. Peruzzi, M. F. Kiani, C.M. Casciola, "Reversable USMB-induced junctional opening in an artificial endothelial layer" Small 2019, DOI: 10.1002/smll.201905375
- V. Romanov*, G. Silvani*, H. Zhu, B. Martinac, "An Acoustic Platform for Single‐Cell, High‐Throughput Measurements of the Viscoelastic Properties of Cells" Small 2020, DOI: 10.1002/smll.202005759
- G. Silvani*, V. Romanov*, B. Martinac, "Chapter 2. Sounding a new era in biomechanics with Acoustic Force spectroscopy" Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Springer Series in Biophysics 2022, DOI: 10.1007/5584_2022_757
- G. Silvani, C. Basirun, H. Wu, C. Mehner, K. Poole, P. Bradbury, J. Chou, "A 3D-bioprinted Vascularized Glioblastoma-on-a-chip for Studying the Impact of Simulated Microgravity as a Novel Pre- Clinical Approach in Brain Tumor Therapy" Advanced Therapeutic 2021, DOI: 10.1002/adtp.202100106
- G. Silvani, P. Bradbury, C. Basirun, H. Wu, C. Mehner, K. Poole, J. Chou, "Testing 3D printed biological platform for advancing simulated microgravity and space mechanobiology research" npj Microgravity 2022, DOI: 10.1038/s41526-022-00207-6