Dr Chiara Azzi
Dr Chiara Azzi is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Babraham Institute. Her research is driven by a deep interest in molecular mechanisms that regulate developmental processes of multicellular systems, through transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation.
Dr Azzi’s experience in developmental and RNA biology began during her Master’s thesis internship in Prof Donal O’Carroll’s lab at European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, where she worked on projects investigating how post-transcriptional regulation, mediated by miRNAs and RNA-binding proteins, contribute to mammalian development.
She received her PhD in Genetics from the University of Basel, Switzerland, under the supervision of Prof Helge Grosshans at the Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI). Her work made significant contributions to our understanding of developmental timing, revisiting the architecture of the heterochronic pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans and providing new insights into the properties and mechanisms of biological timers.
After completing her PhD, Dr Azzi became increasingly interested in using stem cells to explore the regulation of developmental tempo in mammals. To gain expertise in stem cell models, she joined Prof Prisca Liberali’s lab at FMI, where she worked on a project that identified key events preceding and enabling symmetry breaking in gastruloids.
Since September 2022, she has been a member of Dr Teresa Rayon’s team at the Babraham Institute (BI) in Cambridge. Her current project investigates how post-transcriptional regulation, mediated by RNA-binding proteins, governs developmental timing in stem cell systems. At BI, Dr Azzi is also a member of the Postdoc Committee, where she helps organise and facilitate events that promote collaboration and a friendly environment within the Institute.
Select publications
- Nakanoh S, Stamataki D, Garcia-Perez L, Azzi C, Carr HL, Pokhilko A, Yu L, Howell S, Skehel M, Oxley D, Andrews S, Briscoe J, Rayon T. Protein degradation shapes developmental tempo in mouse and human neural progenitors. BiorXiv. 2024/08. doi: 10.1101/2024.08.01.604391
- Azzi C & Rayon T. Timing mechanisms: insights from comparative neural differentiation systems. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development. 2024, 86:101297. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2024.102197
- Welte, T., Goulois, A., Stadler, M.B., Hess, D., Soneson, C., Neagu, A., Azzi, C., Lübke, M.J., Seebacher, J., Schmidt, I., Estoppey, D., Nigsch, F., Reece-Hoyes, J., Hoepfner, D, Großhans, H. Convergence of multiple RNA-silencing pathways on GW182/TNRC6. Mol Cell. 2023 June 83, 1–15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2023.06.001
- Suppinger S, Zinner M, Aizarani N, Lukonin I, Ortiz R, Azzi C, Stadler MB, Vianello S, Palla G, Kohler H, Mayran A, Lutolf MP, Liberali P. Multimodal characterization of murine gastruloid development.
Cell Stem Cell. 2023 May 11:S1934-5909(23)00170-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2023.04.018 - Azzi C, Aeschimann F, Neagu A, Großhans H. A branched heterochronic pathway directs juvenile-to-adult transition through two LIN-29 isoforms. Elife. 2020 Mar 30;9:e53387. doi: 10.7554/eLife.53387.
- Ivanova I, Much C, Di Giacomo M, Azzi C, Morgan M, Moreira PN, Monahan J, Carrieri C, Enright AJ, O’Carroll D. The RNA m6A Reader YTHDF2 Is Essential for the Post-transcriptional Regulation of the
Maternal Transcriptome and Oocyte Competence. Mol Cell. 2017 Sep 21;67(6):1059-1067.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2017.08.003. - Morgan M, Much C, Di Giacomo M, Azzi C, Ivanova I, Vitsios DM, Pistolic J, Collier P, Moreira PN, Benes V, Enright AJ, O’Carroll D. mRNA 3′ uridylation and poly(A) tail length sculpt the mammalian
maternal transcriptome. Nature. 2017 Aug 17;548(7667):347-351. doi: 10.1038/nature23318.