We interviewed Dr Marco Trizzino, a senior lecturer in in Developmental Genomics who joined us in September.

Can you tell me a little about your background?

I was born in Italy, I studied Biology in Milan, and then completed a Master’s and a PhD in Rome, at Sapienza University.  I then spent 5 years as postdoctoral fellow in Philadelphia, at The University of Pennsylvania and The Wistar Institute.  After my postdoc, I remained in Philadelphia, where I started my own research group at Thomas Jefferson University in 2019.  Finally, earlier this year I was recruited by the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London as Senior Lecturer.  

Can you tell us a bit about your PhD?

My PhD was focused on population and evolutionary genetics, and we used insects (and specifically beetles) to investigate how RNA secondary structures can be used to distinguish species. Further, we investigated the molecular ecology and evolution of a group of endangered water beetles.  Next, for my postdoc I switched gears and started to work on human developmental and evolutionary genomics, which has been my main research interest ever since.

What is your new role at Imperial?

I am a Senior Lecturer. I teach a course called Genes and Genomics, to year-2 Biochemistry students. Furthermore, I lead a research group. In my group we use stem cells and genomics to study the function of genes associated with rare developmental diseases. Additionally, we study transposable elements, which are specific regions of the genomes which can move from a region of the genome to another, and their aberrant activity is associated with many human diseases, including neurodegeneration.

What motivated you to work in this area?

I was always fascinated by the human genome, by its complexity and by its functional characteristics, especially in the context of human development.

What attracted you to working in Life Sciences at Imperial?

I was attracted by the idea of working in a very heterogenous Department, in which many kinds of cutting-edge sciences are represented. Moreover, I was looking forward to teaching genomics and contributing to the educational curriculum of the Department.

Tell us an interesting/unusual fact about yourself.

I have been to 12 Bruce Springsteen’s concerts, and I already have the tickets for #13 next year at Hyde Park!