30 Sep 23. Lucia MacCioni CZI-PiW scholar

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Background

Lucia Maccioni obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Marche Polytechnic University and her Master’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Padova. 

Since October 2021, she has been a PhD student in Information Engineering at the University of Padova. 

Her main research interests are in the development and validation of new imaging biomarkers of neuroinflammation from TSPO PET imaging. 

Goals

Lucia applied for the CZI-PiW scholarship because she saw it as an excellent opportunity to work with a team of researchers who are strongly active in the field of PET imaging applied to neuroinflammation.

This  has been a key topic of Lucia's PhD research work. 

Lucia also anticipated that the opportunity would allow her to test and improve her technical skills in PET data analysis and modelling.

We asked Lucia about her experience.

“I am very grateful for being awarded the CZI-PiW scholarship.  

The work I have conducted at the Queen’s Medical Research Institute (QMRI) has been highly formative in my path to becoming a PET modeler. 

During the scholarship period, I came into contact with a highly qualified and multidisciplinary group of researchers, and I had the opportunity to observe different PET experiments and experience day-to-day work in a PET facility.  

I expect the technical skills and knowledge of PET imaging acquisition and quantification, which I have acquired will underpin the challenges of my future PET studies. 

Moreover, this has been an opportunity to foster new collaborations, which are likely to be relevant for my ongoing and future research on PET biomarkers of neuroinflammation. 

I want especially to thank Dr Adriana Tavares, for all the time she dedicated to my training, and for involving me in the research activity of her team."