Gianluca obtained his doctoral degree at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Freda Miller. His thesis focused on understanding how specific RNA binding proteins expressed in the neural precursors of the embryonic mouse brain regulate the process of neurogenesis. Gianluca then moved to the UK for his postdoctoral work at the University of Cambridge with Prof. Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz. In Cambridge, he worked on modelling early mouse post-implantation development using combinations of mouse embryonic and extraembryonic stem cells. The resuting embryo-like structures, that can develop up to early organogenesis, are called ETiX-embryoids. Gianluca’s research team focuses on using ETiX-embryoids to understand mouse, and mammalian, development.