Education

1998: Ph.D in "Cellular Biology (Molecular and Cellular Biology)". Thesis: "Teleost fish as a biological model for the study of the egg envelope of the vertebrates: morphological, biochemical and molecular analyses of the chorion of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata)".

1994: Degree in Molecular Biology (110/110 cum laude). Thesis: "Expression pattern of developmental regulators in human placenta and embryofetal tissues".

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Employment and research experience

2003-curr.: Assistant Professor (Ricercatore Confermato) at the Department of Biology, Division of Functional and Reproductive Biology, Università degli Studi di Milano.
Teaches the 'Experimental Embryology' and 'Experimental Biology Laboratory' classes.
Participate as a member of thesis defense committees.

2002-2006: Research Assistant Professor at the George Mason University (Manassas_VA, USA) at the Center for Biomedical Genomics and Informatics.
Teaches applied microarray technology classes.
Participate as a member of thesis defense committees.

1997-curr.: Tenured position at the Department of Biology.

1999-2000: Research guest at the Mount Sinai Medical Hospital_School of Medicine, New York, at professor Paul Wassarman's laboratory.

1994-1997: Ph.D. student in the Department of Biology.

1992-1994: Intern at the Department of Biology and Genetics for Medical Sciences.

Elucidation of the molecular mechanisms leading to the proper differentiation of the vertebrate dopaminergic system using zebrafish as a model.

Zebrafish as a model system for neurodegeneration: Breaking Down The Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Parkinson's Disease.

Mutations affecting development of the zebrafish inner ear and lateral line.

Del Giacco L*, Pistocchi A, Ghilardi A (2010). prox1b Activity is essential in zebrafish lymphangiogenesis. PLoS One. 5(10):e13170.
*corresponding author

Guella I, Pistocchi A, Asselta R, Rimoldi V, Ghilardi A, Sironi F, Trotta L, Primignani P, Zini M, Zecchinelli A, Coviello D, Pezzoli G, Del Giacco L*, Duga S, Goldwurm S (2010). Mutational screening and zebrafish functional analysis of GIGYF2 as a Parkinson-disease gene. Neurobiol Aging. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2009.12.016.
*co-corresponding author

Pistocchi A, Bartesaghi S, Cotelli F, Del Giacco L* (2008). Identification and expression pattern of zebrafish prox2 during embryonic development. Dev Dyn. 237(12):3916-3920.
*corresponding author

Del Giacco L*, Pistocchi A, Cotelli F, Fortunato AE, Sordino P (2008). A peek inside the neurosecretory brain through Orthopedia lenses. Dev Dyn. 237(9):2295-2303.
*corresponding author

Pistocchi A, Gaudenzi G, Carra S, Bresciani E, Del Giacco L*, Cotelli F (2008). Crucial role of zebrafish prox1 in hypothalamic catecholaminergic neurons development. BMC Dev Biol. 10;8:27.
*co-last author, corresponding author.

Cermenati S, Moleri S, Cimbro S, Corti P, Del Giacco L, Amodeo R, Dejana E, Koopman P, Cotelli F, Beltrame M (2008). Sox18 and Sox7 play redundant roles in vascular development. Blood. 111(5):2657-2666.

No projects are available to students for the current accademic year.