Great news to kick off the year: Marco Lupacchini has joined ComeInCell completing our team of doctoral fellows! He will be working on the DC05 project in Marten Exterkate lab.
Marco obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences at the Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy), where he built a solid foundation in biological sciences. He then completed his Master’s degree at the Università degli Studi di Pavia, focusing on elucidating the interaction between human LRRTM4 and GPC5 within the synaptic cleft of the central nervous system. During his training, he carried out an internship in the Membrane Enzymology group at the University of Groningen, within the BaSyC (Building a Synthetic Cell) research programme, where he gained hands-on experience working with membrane proteins.
His doctoral research aims to develop advanced synthetic membrane systems by introducing cellular crowding through specific condensates into enzymatically growing lipid membranes. By studying how membrane properties and environmental stimuli influence condensate–membrane interactions and membrane remodelling, this project seeks to create synthetic membranes that more closely mimic the dynamic behaviour of native cellular membranes.
We’re excited to have you on board and look forward to following your PhD journey within the network! 🫠