Valeria Famà

PhD researcher with 4 years of hands-on experience bridging experimental biology and data science. Specialist in Nanopore long-read sequencing, quantitative RNA dynamics modeling, and epitranscriptomic analysis. Track record of first- and co-first-author publications in high-impact journals (Nature Communications, RNA Biology).

Experienced with HPC environments, reproducible bioinformatics pipelines, and cross-functional collaboration with wet-lab and computational teams. Seeking to translate deep domain expertise into impactful roles in biotech, pharma, or life science data analytics.

PhD Researcher – RNA Dynamics & Epitranscriptomics at University of Milan / Italian Institute of Technology (2022-10 – Present)

• Designed and implemented bioinformatics pipelines for nascent RNA profiling using SLAM-seq and Nanopore single-molecule sequencing
• Built quantitative mathematical models of the full RNA life cycle (transcription, splicing, export, degradation), enabling sub-cellular resolution of RNA dynamics
• Investigated epitranscriptomic (m6A, pseudouridine) modifications and their role in transcriptional regulation and cancer genomics
• Co-first authored Nanodynamo (Nature Communications, 2024), an open-source computational method downloaded by groups across Europe and the US
• Collaborated with wet-lab teams on experimental design, RNA extraction, cell fractionation, and SLAMseq protocols

Research Fellow – Biomedical Sensing at CNR – Institute of Nanotechnology (2021-01 – 2022-12)

• Contributed to cross-disciplinary research on fluorescent fiber matrices for real-time oxygen sensing in biological tissues
• Performed image segmentation and analysis using U-Net CNN and confocal/SEM microscopy
• Co-authored peer-reviewed publication in Bio-Design and Manufacturing (2024)

Undergraduate Research Fellow at Politecnico di Torino – Physics Department (2021-04 – 2021-07)

• Supported computational physics projects; developed analytical models under academic supervision

PhD in Computational Biology – University of Milan / Italian Institute of Technology (2022-01 – 2026-12)

MSc in Physics of Complex Systems – Politecnico di Torino (2019-01 – 2021-12)

BSc in Physics Engineering – Politecnico di Torino (2015-01 – 2019-12)