MD, PhD, Senior Staff Scientist
Curriculum Vitae
ORCID: 0000-0003-0818-5049
SCOPUS ID: 57252363900

Silvia Della Bella is Associate Professor of General Pathology and Immunology at the Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine of the University of Milan, where she is responsible of courses in Degree Programs in Medicine and Surgery (Italian course and International Medical School) and in the Doctoral School in Experimental Medicine. Since 2011 she is Senior Staff Scientist in UCEI, where she leads a research group. Her current research activity is mainly focused on: immunobiology of human dendritic cells and their interactions with other immune cells in cancer and autoimmune diseases; investigation of endothelial dysfunction through the characterization of endothelial progenitors. Secretary of the European Society for Clinical cell Analysis (ESCCA) form 2014 to 2021, she is co-founder of UniMiFlow, the Flow Cytometry Academy of the University of Milan aimed at providing advanced training in flow cytometry.

PhD, Senior Staff Scientist
ORCID: 0000-0001-7248-1710
SCOPUS ID: 56781393000

Clara Di Vito is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine of the University of Milan. Graduated in Medical Biotechnology at the University of Pavia in 2007, Dr Di Vito obtained her PhD in Molecular Medicine at the University of Eastern Piedmont in 2011. She then spent four years as post-doctoral fellow at the University of Milan, before moving to the Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan, Italy. Dr Di Vito joined UCEI in 2016 as senior Staff Scientist. Her research activities are focused on the investigation of the role of innate lymphoid cells in the etiology and severity of hematologic malignancies and their immune-reconstitution after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. She is supported by Italian and European funding agencies (Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, EMBO and Italian Ministry of Health).

PhD, Senior Staff Scientist
ORCID: 0000-0002-7625-1979
SCOPUS ID: 56148439500

Graduated in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, she completed her PhD program in 2016 (University of Milan). As Staff scientist, she investigates the role of endothelial dysfunction in several pathological conditions (i.e. unprovoked venous thromboembolism, anti-phospholipid syndrome and oncohematologic patients receiving CAR-T cell therapy). She is also involved in research projects which investigate the innate and adaptive immunity in breast implant-associated Anaplastic large cells lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) and COVID-19. Her research activity is supported by several funding agencies (i.e. AIRC, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, Fondazione Cariplo and Italian Ministry of Health).

PhD, Senior Scientist
ORCID: 0000-0001-8310-9543
SCOPUS ID: 6507954160

J. Mikulak joined UEI in 2006. She obtained her PhD in Biotechnology, specializing in regulatory mechanisms of HIV replication. Between 2006-2010, she studied the immune response in HIVAN at LIJ Medical Center, NY, USA. Currently, she coordinates scientific projects exploring the complexity of immune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of various tumors and viral infections, applying techniques such as multiparametric flow cytometry and RNA/TCR-seq.

Lab Manager
ORCID: 0000-0003-4468-2499
SCOPUS ID: 23993645800

Graduated in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine in 2022, Anna is the Laboratory Manager of Prof. Mavilio’s group. She not only coordinates the workflow of the group, but she also deals with grant and fund administration and she manages reagent orders, their transport timing and logistics. Moreover, she is responsible for tutoring new laboratory interns, processing different human samples and carrying out quality control activities of raw materials.

Post-doctoral Fellow
ORCID: 0000-0001-5107-928X

Dr. Viano obtained her PhD in Chemical Sciences from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina, in 2024. During her PhD thesis, Dr. Viano studied thymic development and the functionality of virtual memory CD8 T cells in both physiological conditions and during Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Currently, she conducts research in the field of immune-oncology, focusing on the metastatic and recurrent aspects of colorectal cancer, as well as on identifying immune targets to predict chemoresistance in gastric adenocarcinomas.

Post-doctoral Fellow
ORCID: 0000-0001-7183-2793
SCOPUS ID: 57212273640

Post-doctoral Fellow Graduated in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Dr. Cazzetta obtained her PhD in Experimental Medicine at the University of Milan in 2024. She carries out research activities in the context of tumor immunology, in particular her focus is the numerical, phenotypical, functional and transcriptional characterization of innate immune cells (γδ T cells and NK cells) in solid tumors, including liver, gastric and gynecological cancers.

Post-doctoral Fellow, graphic and social media manager
ORCID: 0000-0002-7803-8549
SCOPUS ID: 57751404400

Alessandro is enrolled in the competitive PhD program in Experimental Medicine at Univeristy of Milan. His project focuses on the study of the physiological NK cell ontogenesis, its translation to the pathological one, to improve myelodysplastic syndromes classification and treatment, especially via bone marrow transplantation. Moreover, Alessandro participates in the management of our social media and creates illustrations and graphics.

PhD Student
ORCID: 0000-0002-5343-2523
SCOPUS ID: 58080368400

Graduated in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine in 2022 at the University of Milan, Simone is now enrolled in the international PhD program in Experimental Medicine under the supervision of Professor Silvia Della Bella. His project is focused on the characterization of the immune dysregulation that occur in patients affected by thymic epithelial tumors, a model at the crossroad between cancer immunology and autoimmunity.

PhD Student, Bioinformatician
ORCID: 0000-0002-5614-4033
SCOPUS ID: 57354186900

Graduated at the Università degli Studi di Milano in the field of experimental immunology in 2022, Paolo is a PhD student in Experimental Medicine and is currently working as a bioinformatician. He’s mainly focused on the study and application of computational methods to analyze transcriptomic and proteomic data derived from multiparametric flow cytometry and single-cell–based RNA sequencing technologies to obtain a comprehensive analysis of the different immune cell types in tumors.

PhD Student, social media manager
ORCID: 0000-0003-2323-0346
SCOPUS ID: 58291684200

Roberta is enrolled in the PhD program in Experimental Medicine. Her project is focused on characterizing role and mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction (ED) in patients with Antiphospholypid Syndrome. She is also involved in projects related to ED in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism and the study of immunological milieu in patients with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma. In addition, Roberta is part of our social media management team.

PhD Student

After obtaining her Master Degree in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine at University of Milan in 2024, Lara is currently enrolled in the PhD program in Experimental Medicine. She is focusing on Innate Immune Cells (NK cells and ILCs) in hematologic malignancies - mainly myelodysplastic syndromes- also in response to therapeutic interventions, aiming to investigate their involvement in disease pathogenesis and progression.

PhD Student, Bioinformatician

ORCID: 0009-0001-1020-4889

Annalisa obtained a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics for Computational Genomics at the University of Milan in December 2024 and is currently enrolled in the PhD program in Experimental Medicine. She will conduct the first year of her PhD at the University of Milan and will complete the remaining two years at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. Her research focuses on the application of computational methods to analyze single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, aiming to characterize immune cell composition across different tumor types and explore immune interactions within the tumor microenvironment.

UnimiFlow Technical Referee
ORCID: 0000-0002-0045-3283
SCOPUS ID: 6603528515

Donatella holds a Master's degree in Biological Sciences and a PhD in Experimental Pharmacology and Chemioterapy from the University of Milan, Italy. She is currently Professor on contract of "Human Physiology" in the Bachelor of Midwifery. She is the technical coordinator of the flow facility at the Department of Medical Biotechnology. Her research activity is focused on cellular model of depressive disorders.

UnimiFlow Technologist

SCOPUS ID: 16067733600

Graduated in Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Dr Venturini obtained her PhD in Internal Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pavia. She gained 12 years of experience as a researcher in the Cellular Pathophysiology and Clinical Immunology Laboratory at the Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics of the at the University of Pavia. During this period, she also served as scientific consultant for freelanced collaborations. Dr Venturini joined UCEI in 2023 as Technologist of UnimiFlow.

Master’s degree Student

After obtaining her Bachelor in Biotechnology, Dr. Menozzi is currently enrolled in the Master course of Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine at University of Milan. In September 2024 she started her thesis internship, during which she is focusing on the NK cells in the context of haematological malignancies.

Master’s degree Student

Graduated in Medical Biotechnology, Alessandro is now enrolled in the master course of Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine at the university of Milan. He joined UCEI in September 2024 for his thesis internship, focusing on thymic epithelial lesions and their association with autoimmune disorders.

Master’s degree Student

Graduated in Biotechnology at the University of Urbino in 2023, Charlotte is currently enrolled in the Master course in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Milan. In October 2024 she started her thesis internship, during which she is studying the immune response(s) to specific implant surface topographies and their underlying mechanism(s), focusing on the immunological milieu in patients with breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Master’s degree Student

After obtaining her Bachelor in Biomedical Laboratory Techniques at the University of Parma, she is now enrolled in the Master course of Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Milan. In February 2025 she started her thesis internship, in which she is focusing on the role of the innate immunity response in solid tumours, including gynaecological cancers and liver cancers.

TLB Student

Meera is attending the third year of the Biomedical Laboratory Techniques course at the University of Milan. She is currently an intern at LabMavilio, where she will write her thesis regarding flow cytometry.

TLB Student

Giulia started her studies in Biomedical Laboratory Techniques at the University of Milan in 2022: she is now attending her third year. She is part of the LabMavilio working group as an intern where she will write her thesis regarding flow cytometry.