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Alessandra Balduini, MD

MD, PhD
University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
Pavía, Lombardia, Italy

Alessandra Balduini, MD Professor Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia, Italy
I have a broad background in the research of bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cell biology. Before creating my research group in 2007, I was a staff physician in the laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry, IRCCS San Matteo Foundation, and the University of Pavia, Italy. From 2005 to 2006 I was Visiting Professor at Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School. Since 2007 I have led a research group that is based in two different academic institutions: the Department of Molecular Medicine - University of Pavia, Italy, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering - Tufts University, Boston, USA. The goal is to establish a cross-sectional program that integrates biological with bioengineering approaches to the study of hematopoiesis and bone marrow environment. My research focuses on how the different components of the bone marrow microenvironment regulate platelet production. In 2011 I developed the groundwork for modeling human bone marrow by bioengineering a new 3D model made of porous silk that fully recreates the physiology of the living bone marrow niche environment. This system, completely redesigned in 2015 and 2017, is capable of successfully generating functional platelets ex vivo, offering new opportunities for producing blood components for clinical applications. In 2021, we proved that this superior tissue system also represents a new tool for studying pathologic mechanisms of human platelet production and testing drug efficiency.

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