Affiliation: University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Dr. Silvia Belluti received her M.Sc. in Medical Biotechnology in 2010 from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. In 2014, she earned her PhD in Molecular and Regenerative Medicine from the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. As a PhD fellow, she studied the cellular and molecular activities of natural compounds with anti-cancer properties and started to study the transcription factor NF-Y. During her studies, she also had the opportunity to spend a few months as a visiting student in the Chromatin Structure and Genome Stability Lab at the University of Edinburgh, and in the Chromosome Replication Lab at the University of Dundee, where she learned new techniques for the study of genome maintenance and regulation.

Since March 2014, Dr. Belluti has been working as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Molecular Genetics Lab of the Department of Life Sciences, in Modena. As a Junior Postdoctoral Researcher, she studied NF-Y functions in the control of gene expression and cell proliferation. In particular, the lab has identified a new non-transcriptional role of NF-Y in the control of S-phase progression and they characterized NF-Y-dependent activation of HPV18-URR gene expression in cervical cancer cells. In the last few years, she has focused her attention on the different roles played by NF-YA splice variants both in physiological and in pathological conditions. The lab demonstrated that NF-YA isoforms have distinct roles on muscle differentiation versus proliferation and her current research is focused on the role of NF-YA splice isoforms in the mechanisms controlling cancer development and progression.