Team:UNIFI/Team

Our Team

Something about our team

Team Unifi is made of fourteen students from the University of Florence. All the students are from the Biomolecular Biotechnology Bachelor, except two from the Master’s Degree. In the lab and in the organization the team is supported by a qualified Genetical Engineering professor, Alessio Mengoni and a post-doc, Elena Perrin. For the software the team has the support of Simone Chiesi, chemical engineer and team advisor. It is the first time for the University of Florence to participate in such an important event like the iGEM competition and we are very excited about it! We are a very determined and united group since we share the same love for the Biotech world and for art in all of its forms!

Teammates

Lorenzo

Hi all! My name is Lorenzo Romagnoli, this is my third year in Biomolecular Biotechnology at University of Florence. I'm team UNIFI leader and this is my first iGEM experience. I'm really excited for the competition and for the whole project development and i think it's a great opportunity, not only to explore the lab world and to get in touch with bigger realities, but also to improve one's skill in both main and side research activities.

Martina

While I am still onlin my 3rd year at the University, I have clear in my mind that genetics is the science which I like the most. This is my first iGEM experience, and I believe that this represents an exceptional opportunity to expand my knowledge and to broaden my scientific horizons. I gladly accepted to help the team on the project, focusing on the Journal part. I am a curious and open minded person. Multicultural environments are really my favorite ones, and I am extremely lucky to continuously feed my passion for travel.

Gabriele

Hi guys! My name is Gabriele Brazzini and I'm attending the third year of Biomolecular Biotechnology at University of Florence. I want to continue my university and working career in the field of genetics. This is my first iGEM experience and I help my team in various ways: from the build of the Wiki to the part of development and implementation of the project. I think that iGEM could be a great opportunity for me to learn how to work in a lab team and understand the world of research. I look forward to confront whith other teams from all over the world.

Teresa

Hi everyone! My name is Teresa and I study Biomolecular Biotechnology at the University of Florence. During my studies I discovered that I'm really amazed and impressed by every mechanism concerning life: biological systems are really smart! In the meanwhile I'm a commuter so I don't have so many time for my hobbies (and for these reason I can't wait to move in my University's city!), but I like to cook and go to the gym because I believe in "mens sana in corpore sano"!

Deborah

Hi everybody! My name is Deborah, I attend the third year of Biomolecular Biotechnology at the University of Florence. I' m a very curious person, for this reason I love the reserch's world, because you can always achieve new goals. This thing is very important for my life because I easily get bored of doing repetitive things. I also have other interests outside the science's world: I like fitness, drawing clothes, and fournishing houses but i have little time for this hobbies because I dedicate the most part of my days to my greater passion: the Biotech. The iGEM competition is a very exciting experience for me, because it stimulates the creativity of people's minds and it is an opportunity for young students to discover a part of the scientific world. GOOD LUCK to my team!

Tommaso

I'm Tommaso and I'm attending the third year of Biomolecular Biotechnology at the University of Florence. I get interested in Biotechnology watching the sci-fi television series "Fringe". I'm very happy to take part in iGEM because I already feel like a scientist. I have other hobbies: I play the guitar, I listen a lot of music and I like to go to live concerts.

Sophie

Hi everyone! My name is Sophie and I'm attending the third year of Biomolecular Biotechnology at University of Florence. I want to continue my career and my study in Environmental biotechnology to develop new technologies and utilities for the natural environment. This is my first iGEM project and i think that is a good opportunity to get experience, not only the field of genetic engineering, but also team work and dealing with external realities.

Nicola

Hey folks, how's it going? I'm Nicola, and like all the others I'm at my final year of Biomolecular Biotechnology at the University of Studies in Florence. I like science and kittens, but I'm allergic to the latter so that's why I'm here. Everything about this experience is a new, exciting challenge and I hope to learn a lot from teamwork with mine and other's group. See you Boston scientists.

Chiara

Hi everybody! My name is Chiara, I'm 22 years old and I live in Prato, a Tuscan city near Florence. I deeply believe that biotechnology is a unique and fascinating world. Taking part to iGEM is for me a great opportunity to exchange ideas with other students and to get to know new aspects of this world. My current position in the Unifi team is to write sections of Wiki, such as the introduction and the descripition of the molecular mechanism behind our project. In the first months of this project I actively participated in foundraising. Even if we didn't achieve the desidered goal, it was a valuable experience. Talking about me, I spend most of my time studying but in my free time I love reading and travelling, specially during the summer holiday. In my everyday life, I don't like spending much time at home, because I get easily bored. So while I study for my exams I prefer to go to the uni to meet my classmates and study together or just have a coffee and a chat.

Valentina

Hi guys! I’m Valentina, a 22 Biotech student at University of Florence. I don’t come from Florence since I live in Spoleto (Umbria), but 3 years ago I decided to study here and being a foreign student! My dream was to become a doctor, until I found out the power and the beauty of the world of Biotechnology. I’m really enthusiastic of this choice, it’s the best I’ve ever had! I’m in love with Genetic Engeniering and my curiosity fits well with the mistery of science and its mechanism. I’m really exciting to take part to iGEM competition, I think it’s a funny and formative experience for students who really want to prove themselves with science and life in laboratory. Enjoy !!

Severo

My name is Severo Balasbas and I am a Master’s Degree student of the Molecular Biotechnology Course at the University of Florence. I discovered my passion for everything related to biotechnology when I was in secondary school and I joined the iGEM team to get closer to my dream of working in the rapidly advancing field of biotechnology and synthetic biology. Hoping to enjoy the excitement of riding the waves of the synbio revolution with this iGEM experience!

Emilia

Hello! I am Emilia and I am a 23-year-old student in Molecular Biotechnology in Florence. My Bachelor’s thesis was about Green Chemistry, applied to the synthesis of nanomaterials, so I really wanted to take part to the iGEM project, in order to increase my knowledge about Genetic Engineering and Synthetic Biology. Furthermore, creating the first GMU (Genetically Modified Unicorn) might probably be the purpose of my life!

Alice

My name is Alice Manfredini, I am an undergraduate student of Biomolecular Biotechnology. The most interesting part of iGEM for me is the possibility to learn something completely new from the other teams and develop new skills. One of my responsabilities is to help Teresa in the laborator to develop our project. I am also responsabile for our lab journal so that every step we do towards the accomplishment of our mission will be recorded.

Advisors

Dott. Alessio Mengoni

Alessio is associate professor of genetics at UNIFI, where he teaches genetics of microorganisms, genomics and genetic engineering, and visiting professor at the University of Gdansk (Poland) and Sun Yat-sen University (China), where he gives lectures on bacterial genomics and systems biology. Alessio's research activities is focused on the study of the evolution of bacterial genomes and on microbial biotechnologies. In the spare time Alessio enjoys running on Tuscan hills (and more), he likes cooking, read books and playing as a dad with his three children.

Dott. Elena Perrin

Hi everybody, I'm Elena Perrin and I'm a Post Doc at the Department of Biology of the University of Florence. My main research field is Microbial Genetics and in particular the study of antibiotic resistance of Burkholderia species. I'm involved in this team as the secondary PI and I'll follow the lab part of the project. This is my first participation to IGEM and I'm very happy to support this team!

Dott. Simone Chiesi

Hi guys i'm an undergraduate student of Chemical engineering, working as software engineer for "Weekend a Firenze". In my spare time i like to do yoga, windsurf and and mess in mathematical convolutions. Why i'm working on this iGEM project? Because genetic engineering is a science dealing with the phenomena underlying our very existences: who could not chase the beauty of it?