Virginia graduated as MSc in Medical Biotechnology, at the University of Padua (Italy). Following her passion for stem cell- derived models and neurobiology, she decided to pursue her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Tübingen (Germany). During her PhD, she focused on the pathomechanisms underlying a particular type of retinopathy, called Retinitis Pigmentosa. To achieve this, she used human iPSC-derived Retinal Organoids derived from affected donors as model system and single-cell RNA-sequencing technology. During her PhD she also contributed to the generation of a microfluidic model system for the retina (Retina-on-a-Chip).

Virginia decided to continue her career in neuroscience using stem cell- based models but to switch from eye to brain research. She therefore joined the cBITE department, at MERLN Institute, as postdoctoral researcher in the group of Dr. Silvia Bolognin. Here her work is focused on understanding the impact of senescence in different cell populations, using human iPSC-derived brain organoids. The goal of her research is especially focused on understanding the effects of cellular senescence on neurodegenerative diseases pathogenesis.