Irene completed her Master’s degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Padova where she developed an improved methodology to increase the efficiency of converting human somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells using an innovative microfluidics system under the supervision of Prof. Graziano Martello. She remained in the Martello lab for her Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine, which focused on new transcriptional factors and molecular mechanisms underlying human pluripotency.

Irene joined the Babraham Institute in July 2021. She was awarded a Postdoctoral By-Fellow from Churchill College in January 2022. Irene is interested in understanding how epigenetic regulators instruct the very earliest stages of human embryo development with a focus on the specification and development of the human placenta. She likes reading books, cooking, and harvesting wild herbs.