Meet our Early Career Scientist Grant Winner Ilaria Brentari
We are pleased to introduce the latest winner of our Early Career Scientist Grant! Ilaria Brentari is the recipient of our monthly $500 grant awarded to a PhD or postdoc life scientist to help support their career.
Ilaria is a PhD student working at the University of Trento, Italy, in Professor Michela Denti’s lab. She plans to use the grant to purchase reagents and to cover confocal microscopy costs to further her analysis on hiPSCs-derived neurons.
When we asked how she felt about receiving the grant, she said:
My first reaction after the win was “OMG, has this really happened?!” I feel amazed and grateful. This is the first time I’ve won funding for my PhD project and this makes me feel delighted! I am very thankful for the support from Hello Bio. Ilaria Brentari, University of Trento, Italy, Hello Bio Early Career Scientist Grant winner
Congratulations Ilaria! First, can you tell us a bit more about what you're working on at the moment?
I am creating neurons from hiPSCs. These hiPSCs are either WT or carry an intronic mutation that in patients give rise to FTDP-17, a subgroup of Frontotemporal Dementia, the second most common neurodegenerative disease. This disease is particularly terrible because it can appear at pre-senile age (from 46 years old on), the life expectancy after the diagnosis is 8 years and there is no cure. This is why I am transfecting these neurons with several RNA molecules that serve as therapy, thus (hopefully) reverting the mutated phenotype.
What is it about your field of research that gets you most excited?
I am excited by the fact that if I succeed in finding the molecule that ameliorates the mutated phenotype, this molecule could arrive in clinic and could potentially be used on patients, giving them the hope to be cured.
Which scientists working today do you most admire, and why?
I admire everyone working in science because they are driven by curiosity and passion. Often people working in science say that this is not a job, because “how can this be work, if it is my passion?”. Every day there are new findings that make the world a better place, which the whole of society can benefit from.
What do you think are the biggest challenges currently facing life scientists and their work?
One of the biggest challenges is communication with non-scientific people: the discoveries that we do in the lab are often not well understood by society and it takes a lot of time to convince people that what scientists do is not suspicious, but essential and valuable!
And finally… what’s your favourite science quote?
“Love your cells as if they were your kids! They will grow happier and stronger.”
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Thank you so much Ilaria! We wish you all the best with your future research.
Connect with Ilaria:
- LinkedIn: Ilaria Brentari
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