Group Leader
Davide Sassera
Born in Cassano d’Adda (MI), il 01/06/1980
Current position
Associate Professor in Parasitology (SSD VET/06) at the Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia.
Courses: Biomedical Parasitology (LM in Experimental and Applied Biology), Parasitology and symbiotic associations (LM in Experimental and Applied Biology), Bioinformatics (LM in Molecular Biology and Genetics)
Education
2000-2005: Master degree in Veterinary Biotechnology at the Università degli Studi di Milano, with honors, under supervisor Prof. Claudio Bandi, with the thesis “Manipulation of the genic expression in a host-parasite system through small RNAs, an experimental approach”.
2005-2008: Ph.D. In Veterinary Hygiene and Animal Pathology, at the Università degli Studi di Milano under supervisor Prof. Claudio Genchi, with the project “Midichloria: a new genus of the order Rickettsiales associated to Ixodidae ticks”.
April 2011: COST training school in Bioinformatics. Uppsala University, Sweden.
Professional experience
July – December 2007: Research grant ‘Ingenio’ from the Lombardia region for “Design and validation of a diagnostic Real-time PCR method for equine babesiois”.
January – September 2008: Post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Luciano Sacchi, University of Pavia, working on the project “Bioinformatic analyses in the research project on microbial diversity associated with the insect vectors of phytoplasms”.
October – November 2008: Project collaborator at Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, with the project “Biomolecular analysis on BVDV strains isolated during studies on the Bovilis BVD vaccine”.
November 2008 – October 2012: 4-year Post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Claudio Bandi, Università degli Studi di Milano on «Investigation on Midichloria spp, a novel bacterial genus of the order Rickettsiales: infectivity for humans and animals, culturing and biological role”.
January-February 2009: visiting scientist. Amparo Latorre lab, Cavanilles Institut, Universitat de Valencia
November 2012 – February 2014: 2-year Post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Claudio Bandi, University of Milano on “Molecular strategies of the inhibition of P-glycoproteins in the hard tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus: next-gen sequencing, gene expression studies, co-treatment with acaricide-inhibitors in cell cultures”.
Ottobre 2013 – gennaio 2014: Term contract, as specialized biotechnologist and bioinformatician, at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna.
March 2014 – November 2016. Researcher in Parasitology (contract RTD – type A, SSD VET/06) at the Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia.
Referee for various indexed journals, such as Genome Biology and Evolution, Nature Microbiology, Environmental Microbiology.