Velia Siciliano

Biography

Velia obtained her B.Sc and M.Sc  Cum Laude in Health and Medical Biotechnology from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. She then carried out my Ph.D in Human Genetics at the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM) Naples, in Prof di Bernardo’s lab. Velia’s research interest developed during the course of doctoral and postdoctoral training is synthetic biology, a field of bioengineering that aims to reprogram cells with genetic circuits, to confer new properties and function or to study mechanisms underlying biological pathways.

Velia currently leads the Synthetic and Systems Biology for Biomedicine lab at IIT. Her research involves the reprogramming of cells with synthetic biology-based approaches towards the development of new therapies, with particular interest towards natural and engineered cell-based immunotherapies. She also works on foundational technologies for the design of synthetic circuits highly predictable and effective in mammalian cells.