Biological Sciences

Rosy Favicchio

Qualification: BSc Molecular Biology

Current position: PhD student at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB), Crete, Greece.

I originally chose the University Portsmouth for a course in Marine Biology had always appealed to me. However, after the first semester I realised that I was much more into the molecular aspects of the world. I found it fascinating studying how macromolecular events govern even the most basic of functions. I, therefore, changed my pathway and graduated with a BSc in Molecular Biology.

During my third year as an undergraduate I had worked in Prof Kneale’s lab and got involved in protein-DNA interactions and, more generally, the world of structural biology. So it was a straightforward choice to stay on at Portsmouth and work towards an MPhil working on biophysical characterisation of the specificity of DNA-interactions by the HMG-box proteins using, mainly, fluorescence and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) techniques.

During my years at Portsmouth I had the possibility of developing my research skills, mainly by interacting and communicating with both fellow students and researchers, in the laboratories. People were always very helpful and ever-present as listeners. I remember the many times we used to sit down and discuss some recent publication as much as problems in our own experiments, all things that later proved to be extremely useful.

I am currently pursuing my PhD studies in the field of Molecular Imaging on the island of Crete after having been accepted on a program sponsored by the Marie Curie Fellowship Association (www.mariecurie.org). We are currently developing new technologies for in vivo small animal imaging using Fluorescence Molecular Tomography (FMT) and my work is focused on developing applications in a mouse model for tumour angiogenesis.