Hi, I’m Gian.
I am a computational biologist currently working on chromatin architecture and cancer plasticity under the supervision of Prof. Giovanni Ciriello at the University of Lausanne (website). My current interests include method development and analysis to understand genome compartmentalization and its influence on tumor evolution, with implications for epigenetic therapies.
Until October 2023, I worked under Prof. Francesca Demichelis's supervision at UniTN (Trento, Italy). There, I investigated DNA methylation patterns in metastatic prostate cancer, focusing on AR-negative subtypes, resulting in a liquid biopsy application liquid biopsy application. Furthermore, I worked to develop new methods that aid the interpretation of large-scale datasets and facilitate the discovery of novel epigenetic biomarkers.
I obtained a Ph.D. in Biomolecular sciences from the University of Trento in January 2023, specializing in computational biology. My main scientific interest is the epigenome's role in enabling lineage plasticity and treatment resistance in cancer and how this relates to chromatin biology and intrinsic developmental programs. I fervently believe in early cancer diagnosis and non-invasive techniques that leverage circulating material to monitor patients. My broader interests include machine learning and statistics, and I often enjoy reading about mathematics and physics beyond the biological field.
When not coding or crunching a never-ending pile of recent papers (which I retweet here), I am probably drawing, reading a good book, or breaking a sweat. Also, I enjoy electronic music and doing very casual photography.
Contacts:
Gianmarco.Franceschini_at_unil.ch