Nadia Rucci, PhD

I am Full Professor of Histology and Embryology and Head of the Skeletal Diseases Laboratory at the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences (DISCAB), University of L'Aquila (UNIVAQ), Italy.

My research is mainly focused on bone physiopathology, with regard to oncologic (bone metastases and osteosarcoma), metabolic (postmenopausal and mechanical-unloading-related osteoporosis) and genetic (Duchenne muscular dystrophy and osteopetrosis) diseases. In recent years my group has investigated the bone microenvironment players involved in osteosarcoma development and metastasis, the molecular mechanisms of bone loss in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the role of extracellular vesicles in osteosarcoma development and in breast cancer-induced bone metastases, and the effects of mechanical unloading on bone tissue.

I am co-inventor of an international patent on siRNA therapy for Autosomal Dominant Osteopetrosis type 2 (ADO2), and I serve as reviewer for numerous international journals and funding agencies in the bone and mineral research field.