Rossella Mauro is a predoctoral researcher in the Applied Physics, Biophysics, and Microfluidics Lab led by Professor Roberto Rusconi at Humanitas University and Humanitas Research Hospital.

She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biotecnology from the University of Parma, where her experimental thesis was titled “Research of new bacterial enzymes involved in phosphonates degradation”. She also holds a Master of Science in Genomic, Molecular, and Industrial Biotecnology from the same university, during which she completed a one-year internship at the Immunophatology Laboratory at the University-Hospital company of Parma.

Her Master’s thesis, titled “Effect of viral mutations on the CD8-mediated T lymphocyte response in chronic hepatitis B”, focused on the study of exhaustion in CD8 T lymphocyte cells in patients affected by chronic hepatitis B, especially using antibodies linked to fluorophores to mark cytokines and analyse them by flow cytometer.

Rossella’s current research focuses on bacterial biofilms, particularly those related to nosocomial and medical device-associated infections. She is examining the antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of natural extracts, primarily polyphenols, and analyzing biofilm characteristics such as extracellular polymorphic matrix production, extracellular DNA production, and expression of quorum sensing genes. Her research aims to elucidate how natural compounds can influence biofilm formation under static and dynamic conditions, including in microfluidic experiments utilizing different surfaces and flow rates.