He obtained a master’s degree in molecular biology at the University of Padua where he was awarded with a scholarship for outstanding academic performance in 2023. During his master’s studies he also completed a 7-month internship at the Lund University Diabetes Center in Malmö, Sweden. Alessio joined Matthias Blüher’s research group in March 2024 and is currently writing his PhD thesis on the subject of Epigenetics of Obesity under the supervision of team lead Dr. Maria Keller. In his thesis he explores the potential of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as biomarker in metabolic disorders. The focus of his work is on determining whether methylation markers-based tissue-of-origin deconvolution of cfDNA can help distinguish the various metabolic states of patients with obesity.
The Leipzig Research Festival is organized annually and took place on January 30th, 2025, at the Clinical Trial Center on the campus of the University Medicine Leipzig. It is aimed to promote scientific exchange, create a platform to present innovative research and encourage young scientists to present their work to the broader public.