Prisca Liberali | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research Sapienza University of Rome Open University (PhD) |
Awards |
EMBO Gold Medal (2022) EMBO Member (2022) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions |
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research ETH Zurich University of Basel |
Thesis | Mechanisms regulating the dual function of CtBP3/BARS in mammal cell membrane fission and transcription (2008) |
Website |
liberalilab |
Prisca Liberali is an Italian chemist who is a senior group leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research. [1] Her research takes a systems biology approach to understand the behaviour of multi-cellular systems. She was awarded the EMBO Gold Medal and EMBO Membership in 2022.
Liberali was born in Belgium, and grew up between Belgium and Luxembourg. [2] Her parents worked for the European Union. She attended the Sapienza University of Rome, where she studied physical organic chemistry. [2] She moved to the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, where she worked toward a doctorate in cell biology with Daniela Corda. Her doctorate looked at the mechanisms that regulate the function of the carboxy-terminal binding protein 3/brefeldin A-ribosylated substrate (CtBP3/BARS) in the membrane fission of mammal cells and was awarded by the Open University. [3] Her PhD used high-contrast screening and mapping of genetics interactions. [2]
After her PhD, Liberali then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology at ETH Zurich.[ citation needed]
In 2015, Liberali was made an assistant professor at the University of Basel. She was simultaneously appointed a group leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, where she was made Senior Group Leader in 2021. [4]
Liberali makes use of a systems biology approach to understand tissue organisation. [5] She is interested in the collective properties of multi-cellular systems and how their properties arise from the behaviour of individual cells. [6] With this information, Liberali looks to understand cell reprogramming and disease. [7] Her early work considered intestinal organoids [8] and how they develop from stem cells. [9] [10]
In June 2022, Liberali was awarded the EMBO Gold Medal by the European Molecular Biology Organization. [11] She was awarded EMBO Membership in 2022. [12]
Her publications [1] [5] include:
Liberali is married with two children. [2] Her husband is Dutch and her children can speak five languages. [2] She has said that her guiding advice for someone about to start their own laboratory is "Sometimes good ideas need time, and the courage to just try them.". [2]