Jessica A
- Research Program Mentor

PhD at College de France

Expertise

Biology, Neuroscience, Epigenetics

Bio

I am a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. I am a molecular biologist by training with an extensive background in neuroscience and epigenetics. I was born and raised in Italy and did my B.S. in Molecular Biology at the University of Padova, Italy, and my Ph.D. in Neuroscience at College de France, Paris. I am interested in understanding how the brain functions and all the neurons interact with each other leading to every-day life behaviors. During my Ph.D., I studied the brain plasticity of the visual cortex. This means how the brain shapes in response to environmental stimuli and visual cues.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

The human brain and its function

Interested to know how to human brain works? Are you fascinated about how the brain evolves from childhood to adulthood? I am the right person. In the project, I would like to explore the anatomy of the brain, and the function of each brain's component. I want to describe the activity associated with each structure, how we perceive the world, and the understanding of brain diseases to better understand how to cure them.

The life encrypted in DNA

In this project, I would like to accompany the student through the mechanisms at the base of the generation of life. I will explain the composition of a cell, focusing on DNA, the base molecule of our being. I will target genetics and beyond, with a focus on DNA modifications not encrypted in this molecule. This project will also touch on advanced elements of gene editing and the explanations of tools required for gene therapy.