Andrea Cerase

CURRICULUM VITAE - ANDREA CERASE

Current Position(s):
• Nov. 2024-date Associate Professor at University of Pisa, Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology
• Feb. 2022- date Visiting Lecturer in Epigenetics and Genomics (Assistant Professor) at the Blizard Institute, QMUL, London (UK) – Russel group University.

Previous Positions:
• Feb. 2022- Nov. 2024 Tenure-track assistant professor (RTDb) at University of Pisa, Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology (Department of excellence from 2023), Pisa, Italy.
• Oct. 2018-Jan.2022 Lecturer in Epigenetics and Genomics (Assistant Professor) at the Blizard Institute, Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Queen Mary University of London (Russel Group Uni), Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK.
• July-Aug. 2018 Visiting Scientist in Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Division of Biology and Biological Engineer in the group of Prof. Mitchell Guttman, Pasadena, USA.
• Jan. 2014-July 2018 EMBL Fellow Research fellowship under the supervision of Prof. Phil Avner’s (EMBL Rome, Italy)
• Feb. 2008-Dec 2013 Post Doctoral Research Associate, in Prof. Neil Brockdorff’s group (Biochemistry Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
• Oct. 2003-Jan. 2007 Doctoral Research, Ph.D. in PhD at the GB-National Research Council, CNR, Naples, Italy and CSC-MRC, Imperial College London, UK for one year)
• Mar. 2002-Oct. 2003 Post-graduate training. Telethon Fellowship in at the IGB-National Research Council, CNR)
• Oct. 2000-Mar. 2002 Experimental thesis work at the National Institute of Cancer Research "Fondazione G. Pascale" Naples, Italy)
Education:
• Feb. 2022 Professorship qualification eligibility (habilitation) for the Italian University system (Level A/Full Professor, “Prima Fascia”, Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale 2021, 05/E2, Molecular Biology).
• Sept. 2014-Mar. 2015 Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy – UK system (AFHEA, PR083643 -24th March2015). Qualification for teaching at the university level.
• Oct. 2003-Jan. 07 Ph.D in Advanced Biology with a thesis in Human Genetics at the University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy of which ~1 year spent at the Imperial College, London, UK (Italian XIX cycle, Biologia Avanzata).
• Nov. 1996-Mar. 2002 MSc in Molecular Biology (Honours, 110/110 summa cum laude) at University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy.

Fellowships and awards:
• Jan. 2014-Jan. 2018 EMBL fellow – EMBL Rome, Monterotondo, Italy.
• May 2010-Sep. 2012 Fulford Junior Research Fellowship - Somerville College, University of Oxford,
Oxford, UK.
• Mar. 2006-Jan. 2007 Epigenome Network of Excellence grant
• Sep. 2006 Conference travel grant – 2nd International X Chromosome Inactivation Meeting, Paris, France.
• Jun. 2003-Jan. 2004 Telethon Foundation Fellowship – IGB, Naples, Italy.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
• Co-founder and CSO of a new biotech company (CERNAIS SRL; www.cernais.com) based on wet and AI-powered small molecule screening for the treatment of rare genetic disorders (Seed stage). Winner of the Call for ideas 2023. Winner of the award as new best biotech in Tuscany 2024. Finalist at the national competition for the best new biotech in Italy in 2024. Third qualified in SPARK call at Unipi 2025.
• European patent submission (Nr. 25191536.9). “Peptidomimetic compounds for the treatment of X-linked disorders”.

GRANTS:
Awarded >500k euro in research grants from 2018 to date. More info: www.ceraselab.org

SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS; PhD POSTDOC STUDENTS:
24 Undergraduates, 3 postdocs, 4 lab technicians, 3 PhD students, 2 visiting students.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES:
• 2024-2025 Biotechnology for the Neurosciences course (24 lectures, 6 CFU/year from 2024)
• 2022-2024 Biotechnology for the Neurosciences course (12 lectures, 3 CFU/year)
• 2022-2024 Genetics and Molecular Biology course (20 lectures in Molecular Biology, 2 laboratory tu