Ph. D. Student
Department of Integrative Marine Ecology
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Villa Comunale
80121 Napoli - Italia
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Director of Studies: Lucia Campese
Internal Supervisors: Donato Giovannelli, Mariella Ferrante, Daniele Iudicone
Program: Università degli studi di Napoli “Federico II”, XL ciclo
Research Interests
Diatoms are unicellular microalgae of fundamental ecological importance, as they form a crucial part of the marine phytoplankton. The genus Pseudo-nitzschia is known for producing domoic acid, a neurotoxin that can cause Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), with severe consequences for human health and aquaculture. Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata is a particularly well-studied species, used as a model to investigate diatom life cycles, sexual reproduction, and toxin production. My project aims to integrate field observations (metabarcoding, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics) with gene expression experiments to study diatom population dynamics in coastal environments. The research will focus on chemical, physical, and biological sampling within the framework of the NEREA Project (Naples Ecological Research for Augmented Observatories), with the goal of identifying changes in diatom communities in the Gulf of Naples and assessing the impact of environmental fluctuations and anthropogenic pressures on the marine ecosystem. In parallel, the project will analyze the environmental factors influencing the activation of the dab gene cluster, responsible for domoic acid biosynthesis. This will help to better understand the mechanisms of toxin production in response to environmental factors. Additionally, the project aims to provide data to improve environmental monitoring and protect coastal communities and marine fauna.
