My lab experience at Stroke & vascular dysfunction lab at Mario Negri Institute – Emilio Centurelli

I got the opportunity to do my 1st lab rotation in the Stroke & Vascular Dysfunction Lab at Mario Negri Institute in Milan.

PI of the laboratory: Stefano Fumagalli PhD
Tutor: Aurora Bianchi

The lab focuses on the interactions between the immune system and acute vascular events, such as atherosclerotic plaque rupture leading to stroke and other acute vascular dysfunctions. In particular, the lab focuses its research on a complex branch of the immune system: the complement system.

My experience & learnings:

During my lab rotation I worked on two projects. The first involved creating an atherosclerotic blood vessel organoid to model atherosclerosis in vitro. This will allow the evaluation of a complement system protein as a potential new drug target for the treatment of plaque instability, the very process that transforms an atherosclerotic plaque into a stroke or a myocardial infarction.

The second project aimed to treat neonatal hypoxia. In this case, we evaluated another drug candidate in a rat model.

The entire lab experience was amazing. I learned a variety of technical skills and gained hands-on experience working with cell cultures and animal models.

Bonus: Throughout my time at the institute, I maintained a cell culture of HBMEC, human brain microvascular endothelial cells. This helped me learn how to work under aseptic conditions and how to execute the practical tasks needed to carry out experiments in the lab.

A huge thank you to the Virgilio Program for making this rotation a reality. Programs like this are vital for bridging the gap between clinical medicine and research, and I am so grateful for their role in shaping my journey toward becoming a physician-scientist.

P.S. I met a wonderful team of bright minds, and I want to sincerely thank Stefano, Aurora, Caterina, Rebecca, and Gabriele for teaching me everything I learned at the institute. A special thanks also goes to Pasquale and Gabriele for all the “biliardino” matches during our lunch breaks. This whole experience has profoundly shaped my journey as a medical student who wants to impact the future of medicine.