Elisabetta Gamen

I obrained my Master Degree in Medical Biotechnology from the University of Naples "Federico II" (Italy) in 2011.

I then moved to the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research (Germany) to work on novel mechanisms of hypoxia mediated metabolic remodeling and mitochondrial suppression in the context of Pulmonary Hypertension and lung cancer. During my graduate training, I was awarded with a short-term fellowship from the European Respiratory Society to refine my skills in the metabolic and mitochondrial biology at the University of Alberta (Canada). I obtained my PhD from the University of Giessen (Germany) in 2018.

From November 2018, I joined Prof. Riley's group to work on the role of hypoxia in cardiac regeneration in a neonatal mouse model of myocardial infarction. In humans, new-born infants have the ability to regenerate their hearts during early life. This is modelled in the mouse, where regenerative capacity is maintained for the first week after birth but lost thereafter. Reactivation of this process holds great therapeutic potential, however, the molecular pathways that might be targeted to extend neonatal regeneration remain elusive. We explore a role for hypoxia and HIF signalling on the regulation of epicardial activity which is essential for heart development and the response to injury.