Profile

I am originally from Lecce, a beautiful sunny city in the south of Italy. I moved to Scotland 11 years ago, and I suppose I got stuck here! 😄

I am often asked why I left sunny Italy to come to Scotland, and my answer is: I grew up in extremely hot weather, and I wanted a change; and where could I have gone better than Scotland!? I love Scotland because of its nature; there is so much to choose from when it comes to going out for a walk with all my boys, human and not.

I love cooking, I would say I spend most of my spare time cooking and experimenting new recipes. Henry loves watching me while I cook, and I hope that he will be joining me when he is a little bit older.

I also love crafts, particularly knitting and crochet. I used to make little toy octopi for a charity called “Octopus for a Premiee”. These octopi would go to babies born too early and so a little smaller than normal; why, you may ask? Well, studies had shown that the tentacles of the octopi would help these babies grow stronger and faster. I am now on a forced break from my knitting and crochet, as I have a little injury in my wrists, but i hope to start crafting soon again.

I first moved to Aberdeen to research how my heart and yours develop; how did they form in our “embryonic life” (meaning when we were still in our mums’ bellies)? Did you know that your heart is the first organ to form in your embryonic life? It only takes 3 weeks for your heart to start beating! Incredible ah? Yet, some babies can have some trouble in their embryonic life, and their heart misbehaves and doesn’t form as it should. My research looked into how a normal heart forms, and what goes wrong when things go wrong. My hope was that one day my work could help fixing broken hearts.

After that, I worked in a business, where I tried to discover the cure for some nasty disease. Only a few years ago I decided the life of a researcher was no longer for me, and I started teaching. It was definitely the right choice! I love my job, I love talking to my students, and I love getting creative when I teach them. For example, a few weeks ago we all played with playdough, while learning how fruit flies develop. Yes, you read that right, fruit flies, those tiny little flies that you sometimes see coming out of fruit when it is a bit too ripe. Fruit flies are heroes in my job, as understanding their development was crucial for us to understand development of us people! Amazing ah? You and a fruit fly are so different, but you develop somehow in a similar way. Now you see why I love my job?

Since having my son Henry, I have early starts. 🥴 My day starts around 6 – 6:30, and the first thing I prepare in the morning is milk 🍼for Henry and coffee ☕ for me (a strong one; I am still Italian afterall!). Henry and I play a bit, then I prepare breakfast for us, my husband Kiall, and Blake. We all like cereal, including Blake who is always ready to collect whatever Henry throws on the floor!

I try to be at work around 8:30. My day normally starts by checking my email, and after that no day is the same; sometimes I prepare my teaching, sometimes I teach, sometimes I meet people, sometimes I meet students, sometimes I read their work, sometimes I still get to be a clever scientist in the lab…so much variety, I am so lucky! I normally get a lovely lunch break with my friends; we chat about silly things all the time!

I usually try to leave work around 5, and get home just in time for dinner, a little play with Henry and some bedtime stories! Once Henry is in bed, I give Blake a lovely walk along the riverside, and then come home to do some cooking for the day after. Did you notice I like to be busy?? 😁