Lab Members

Rosalba Giugno got her PhD in Computer Science with tutors prof. VS Subrahmanian (University of Maryland) and prof. Dennis Shasha (New York University). Since she moved in Verona 2016, she leads a research group of 2 post-docs, 6 PhD students, and 10 undergraduate students. She is the Director of Infolife laboratory made by 35 research Italian Universities Units. She is the director of the International Master in Medical Bioinformatics at university of Verona. She coordinates the Bioinformatics units of two European Projects on single cell analysis for neurodegenerative diseases. She is the Bioinformatician editor of Elsevier Information Systems and other international journals. She has established collaborations with Harvard Medical School, New York University, Insitute of Oncology Research in Bellinzona (IOR) and the University of Eastern Finland.

Vincenzo Bonnici is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mathematics, University of Parma. He received his BA and MA in Computer Science at the University of Catania. He has a background in artificial intelligence and graph theory, and he received a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Verona with a thesis in Bioinformatics. His PhD thesis was titled "Informational and relational analysis of biological data" reflecting the wide range of interest of this research in the field. He is currently involved in developing methodologies for searching in relational data, such as networks and NoSQL graph databases. Computational analysis of omic data, from genomic sequences to biological networks, and the integration of the multiomics scene by means of information theory and graph theory is a fundamental topic of his research. Transversal aspects of his research are the integration of big quantities of data and the developing of parallel solutions.

Simone Avesani is a Postdoctoral researcher at University of Verona. Simone got a doctorate in Computer Science in 2024, he graduated in Bioinformatics in 2018 and during his Master Degree in Medical Bioinformatics, successfully achieved in autumn 2020, he started working in the Infomics Lab. His research is focused on the analysis of multi-omics data, data integration and network analysis. He is a team partner of European Union’s Horizon 2020 research project TUBE, focused on the study of adverse health effects of pollutants and their possible involvement in the Alzheimer’s disease development. Simone did his Ph.D in collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland under the supervision of Professor Katja Kanninen. In his free time he enjoys hiking, cooking, playing basketball and piano.

Manuel Tognon is a PhD student in Computer Science at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Verona in Italy. He holds a BSc in Bioinformatics and an MSc in Medical Bioinformatics from the same university. His research interests are focused on developing innovative computational methods for predicting the impact of genetic variants on epigenetic elements and CRISPR off-targets. As part of his PhD, he is being co-supervised by Professor Rosalba Giugno from the University of Verona and Professor Luca Pinello from Harvard Medical School. Currently, Manuel Tognon is a visiting PhD student at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA, under the supervision of Professor Luca Pinello, and is a member of the BROAD Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Manuel Tognon has co-organized a special session on modeling and simulation methods for computational biology and systems medicine at CIBB 2021 and was part of the program/organization committees for BITS-2022 and BIOTECHNO-2022. In his free time, he enjoys visiting museums, and playing soccer and football.

Andrea Betti Andrea Betti is a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Verona's Department of Computer Science. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Bologna in 2022 and his Master's degree in Medical Bioinformatics from the University of Verona in 2024. During his Master's studies, he participated in several projects in collaboration with the Infomics Lab in Verona and New York University. Currently, Andrea works at the Infomics Lab in Verona, a research group led by Professor Giugno. His research interests merge artificial intelligence and biology, with a particular focus on genetics. In his free time, he enjoys working out, running, playing beach volleyball, and playing the piano.

Gospel Ozioma Nnadi is a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Verona, Italy. He is a graduate of Computer Science at the University of Parma in the year 2020 and successfully completed his M.Sc in Computer Science at the same University in the year 2022. In the year 2023, he became part of the research group at the InfOmics Lab led by Professor Rosalba Giugno. His research project under the supervision of Professor Rosalba Guigno and co-supervision of Professor Vincenzo Bonnici, is centred on the development of algorithms and innovative methods for bioinformatics and multi-omics data analysis, financed within the framework of the Extended Partnership "HEAL ITALIA", area of intervention "6. Innovative diagnostics and therapies in precision medicine” funded by the European Union “ NextGenerationEU, National Recovery and Resilience Plan. In his free time he enjoys singing, dancing, physical fitness exercises and visiting new places.

Alisa Kumbara Alisa Kumbara is a PhD student in Intelligent System Engineering at the Department of Engineering for Innovation Medicine at the University of Verona, Italy. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Marche in 2022. Upon completing her Master's degree in Medical Bioinformatics at the University of Verona in July 2024, she started working in the InfOmics Lab led by Professor Rosalba Giugno. Her research interests lie at the intersection of computational biology and human genetics. Specifically, she is interested in the developement and application of novel computational techniques to predict the functional consequences of genetic variants. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, exploring new cities, and cherishing quality time moments with friends and family.

Lorenzo Ruggeri Lorenzo Ruggeri is a PhD student in Artificial Intelligence in the National PhD in Artificial Intelligence and is part of the InfOmics lab led by Prof. Rosalba Giugno. He holds a BSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Bologna and a MSc in Medical Bioinformatics from the University of Verona. His research interests span across computational biology, genomics, bioinformatics and artificial intelligence. In his free time, he enjoys working out and playing beach volley.

Michele Tebaldi is a PhD student in Computer Sciences at the University of Verona. After a Bachelor degree in Biomolecular Sciences and Technologies and a MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnologies, he undertook another MSc in Quantitative and Computational Biology, all in University of Trento. His research interest is focused on bio-computational approaches towards neurodegenerative diseases, ranging from neuro-imaging data analysis to single-cell transcriptomic analyses. During his PhD, under the co-supervision of Rosalba Giugno and Stefano Tamburin, he works on a novel data infrastructure to analyze motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease. In his spare time, he plays wheelchair rugby and he enjoys chess, watching movies and hanging out with friends. He is also involved in projects to sensibilize people towards disability.

Eva Viesi is a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Verona in Italy and is part of the InfOmics Lab led by Professor Rosalba Giugno. She received the Bsc in Bioinformatics and the MSc in Medical Bioinformatics from the same university. Her research interests focus on the analysis of genomic, transcriptomic and chemical data and the implementation of machine learning strategies. Her PhD project follows the green and digital thematic areas identified by the National Smart Specialisation Strategy and focuses on the design and implementation of chemoinformatics and artificial intelligence methods for the analysis of air pollutants, the prediction of their mechanisms of action, and the investigation of their impact on human health, in particular on the development of neurodegenerative diseases. She works in collaboration with the Ri.MED Foundation in Palermo, Italy, specialized in drug discovery and design, and with the Structural Bioinformatics and Network Biology Group at IRB Barcelona, Spain. Eva Viesi was a member of the program/organization committees of the BITS-2022 and BIOTECHNO-2022 congresses. In her free time, she enjoys visiting new places, hiking, cooking, playing badminton and dancing.

Stefano Catanzaro is a Research Fellow at the InfOmicsLab, led by Professor Rosalba Giugno, working on a project titled "Development of methods for the characterization of molecules and the prediction of molecule targets and functions". He holds a Master’s degree in Medical Bioinformatics from the University of Verona, with a background in engineering. His academic and research expertise centers around the field of Single Cell Analysis, participating in projects aimed at understanding the cellular heterogeneity that drives complex biological systems. He has collaborated with the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR, Bellinzona), contributing to studies at the intersection between bioinformatics and cancer research. In his free time, Stefano is passionate about cooking, concerts, photography and video-making.