Alessandro Donada

Background

About Alessandro Donada

I have always been passioned by science, as curiosity really drives me forward in several aspects of my life. I have been trained as a life scientist in two different countries and three different cities, particularly as a cell biologist with a particular focus on stem cells, cancer, and rare disorders. During my master's and Ph.D. training at Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, I have contributed to the understanding of two rare blood disorders, developing and improving the use of pluripotent stem cell models in my laboratory. This part of my job had a role in the successful participation in a European Consortium supported by the ERC. I loved to mentor three students during my Ph.D, all of them currently enrolled in different Ph.D. programs across the world (France, Italy and US). I have presented my work at several national and international meetings. Currently, at Institut Curie, Paris, I am interested in the relationship between cell division and cell differentiation, and how this relationship affects blood cancers. I am constantly interacting with brilliant scientists coming from different technical backgrounds, and I am building a new set of valuable skills in quantitative data analysis. I am performing a technologically advanced analysis, requiring a considerable analytical effort (single-cell sequencing, multiparameter flow cytometry). I value team-work over personal success, I appreciate perseverance and openness. I have a strong interest in science outreach and communication, I consider it a crucial part of my job as a scientist. But most importantly, I am always looking for interesting science across life sciences and beyond (chemistry, biotech and pharmaceutical business development, clinical trials). Curiosity really is the main driver of my professional career.