I am a molecular biologist by training, passionate about contributing to advances in biomedical sciences. My research has developed over the last 20 years around the study of DNA repair mechanisms and genome maintenance, crucial factors in fighting cancer.
Alongside my scientific research, I enjoy exploring the world through photography - for me a wonderful opportunity to connect with people, to learn from others and to reveal the beauty in each of us and in seemingly ordinary moments, which often pass by unnoticed. I am interested in the transformative power of individuals and society.
Besides my personal projects, I am linking my passion for science with the one for photography. By turning the lens on scientists, women in particular, I wish to increase the visibility of scientists, highlighting the many ways to be a scientist and bringing diversity in the public perception of scientists.
I speak Italian, English and Dutch.
“Be curious, explore and never stop learning”
BIO
Elisabetta (b. in Milan, Italy) holds a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Milan and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands (2000). She has worked and directed research projects in international research centers in The Netherlands (Netherlands Cancer Institute - NKI-AvL, Amsterdam; Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam) and in Italy (IFOM-IEO Campus and DIBIT S. Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan), with research experiences in USA (Massachusetts General Hospital - MGH, Boston), France (IGBMC, Strasbourg) and Japan (Osaka University, Osaka). She obtained competitive research funding as Principal Investigator, including the Aspasia and the Vidi award from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Talent program and research grants from the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF). She authored and published her work in international peer-reviewed journals, among which Journal of Experimental Medicine, Cell Reports, PNAS, Current Biology, EMBO J. She regularly serves as a referee for international scientific journals and funding agencies in the field of the Life Sciences, including the European Commission Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 program. She is elected member of AcademiaNet since 2012. Currently, she is a research fellow at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Milan. She joined Life Science Editors as associate editor in 2024. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2347-3495
Along with her scientific activities, she developed a long-term interest in photography. She studied photography at Fotogram in Amsterdam (2010-2012) and at Il Diaframma in Milan with Giuliana Traverso (Donna Fotografa 1995-96). She stays up to date by following workshops by renowned photographers (Les Rencontres d'Arles France; Photolux Festival, CortonaONTHEMOVE, Istituto Italiano di Fotografia, Italy; Fotoacademie, Amsterdam; Burn Magazine, USA) during which she has exhibited in collective exhibitions. She is author of STEM passion - A journey inspired by women in science, exhibited for the first time in 2022 at Openzone in Bresso (Milan). STEM passion has become a traveling multimedia exhibition with stops in Vicenza, Lodi and Verona in Italy. It started its international journey in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March 2023.
Education in photography and exhibitions
November 2023: STEM passion solo exhibition. Ulm University. Ulm, Germany.
March 2023: STEM passion solo exhibition. EPFL - École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Lausanne, Switzerland.
February 2023: STEM passion solo exhibition. University of Verona. Verona, Italy.
November-December 2022: STEM passion solo exhibition. Camera di Commercio di Verona. Verona, Italy.
October 2022: STEM passion solo exhibition. Festival della Fotografia Etica - OFF circuit, Lodi, Italy.
May 2022: STEM passion solo exhibition. University of Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy.
April 2022: STEM passion solo exhibition. Health&Quality Factory Zambon, Vicenza, Italy.
February 2022: STEM passion solo exhibition. Openzone Campus, Bresso (Milan), Italy.
2012: Collective exhibition. Fotoacademie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1996: Collective exhibition. Donna Fotografa - galleria Il Diaframma, Milan, Italy.
Photography education
2021: Istituto Italiano di Fotografia Milan: Portrait – Topic session.
2010-2012: Fotogram/Fotoacademie – Fotografisch Specialist education with final exam in Portrait and Reportage. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
1995-1996: Galleria Il Diaframma - Photography school "Donna Fotografa" by Giuliana Traverso. Milan, Italy.
Workshops
2019 March-Oct: David Alan Harvey – online mentoring class. Online exposition of the project “Hold me”.
2019: Expert program with Niels Stomps, “Photo book: from image to publication”. Fotoacademie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2018 Sept: Workshop with Simona Ghizzoni, “Responsible storytelling”. Cortona ONTHEMOVE, Cortona Summer School, Italy.
2017 Nov: workshop with Paolo Verzone, “ A geometry of disorder. Lighting techniques for portraiture”. Fotolux Festival, Lucca, Italy.
2016 Aug: Les Rencontres d'Arles – workshop with Thierry Bouët: “Portrait: look at a territory”. Participants exposition with the series “Fourteen”. Arles, Frances
2015 Aug: Les Rencontres d'Arles – workshop with Jérôme Bonnet: “Portrait: a fleeting encounter.” Participants exposition with the series “Summer”. Arles, France
2014 Aug: Les Rencontres d'Arles – workshop with Philippe Guionie: "Documentary photography, from idea to medium". Participants exposition with the series “Restlessness”. Arles, France