Research Assistant
Maira obtained her master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Milan, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology. Between her bachelor’s and master’s studies, she worked as a lab technician in the Cardiovascular Cellular and Molecular Biology Unit at Centro Cardiologico Monzino, where she focused on platelet aggregation in cardiovascular diseases. She then joined the lab of Dr. Manuel Albanese as an intern in February 2025. Where she worked on optimising Extracellular Vesicles as CRISPR/Cas9 delivery system to perform in vitro gene editing.
Since February 2026, Maira has been a Research Assistant in Papa’s Lab, where she focuses on novel technologies of targeted protein degradation. Her research focuses on perturbing biomolecular condensates to understand their role in cellular and infection processes to unravel new therapeutic targets.
When she’s not in the lab, you’ll likely find her in the kitchen experimenting with asian-inspired recipes or driving around Milan on her scooter (so watch out!!).