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 | STUDENT BIOGRAPHY |
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 | Dafne Campigli Di Giammartino |
 | Graduate Student |
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 | I was born in Florence (Italy) and I lived in Rome until the age of 18, when I left for Israel. I got my B.Sc and M.Sc in Jerusalem. During the Master I worked in Prof. Ygal Haupt’s lab. My thesis focused on the regulation of the tumour suppressor protein p53 in HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) infected cells: I tried to understand how the tyrosine kinase c-Abl can rescue p53 from the viral inhibitory effects. I found an interaction between c-Abl and the cellular E3 ligase E6AP, which is recruited by the virus in order to ubiquitinylate and degrade p53. I found that, when activated, c-Abl can phosphorylate E6AP, inhibiting its ligase activity toward p53, and therefore restoring the tumour suppressor potential in those cells.
In the past year I’ve been working as a Research Technician in the lab. of Prof. James Manley, at Columbia University. Here I had the opportunity to learn more techniques and be introduced to the “RNA world,” a new field for me. I worked on a project that focused on RNA-protein interaction, more specifically on the purification of the protein complex involved in the 3’ processing step of pre-mRNA.
Apart from science, I love contemporary art. I go to museums and galleries when I have time. But above all, I enjoy travelling as much as I can. When I was younger I spent most of my travels between Italy and Israel, where I have relatives. In the past years, I visited most of Europe and spent some months in South America travelling all over the cities and amazing natural reserves of Argentina, Chile and Brazil. |
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