Biographies

Alessandro Achilli, Phd. Group leader Trained at the University of Pavia, where he received his Ph.D. Genetic and Biomolecular Science in 2005, Dr. Achilli is currently Associate Professor in that University’s Department of Biology and Biotechnology, which was recently classified among the best 180 Departments in Italy. Thanks to this award Dr. Achilli set up a brand-new ancient DNA laboratory. He leads a research group dedicated to the analysis of mitochondrial DNA and nuclear (ancient and modern) DNA sequence variation with the aim of better defining origins, evolution and dispersal patterns of human and animal populations. He also studies the definition of the role played by human and animal genome sequence variation in association studies and the application of mtDNA surveys in forensic genetics. Dr. Achilli has authored and co-authored 98 original articles in international journals and three book chapters. Among them we can mention “Ancient human genomes—keys to understanding our past”, Science, 80:360 (2018), pp, 964–965 (with A. Olivieri, O. Semino and A. Torroni) or “Identità genetiche oltre i confine convenzionali”, in A. R. Calabrò (ed.), Disegnare, attraversare, cancellare i confini: una prospettiva interdisciplinare, Milano G. Giappichelli Editore, 2018, pp. 225-234 (with U. A. Perego).

Marco Rosario Capodiferro Research fellow Trained at the University of Perugia, Marco Rosario Capodiferro moved to the University of Pavia where he defended his PhD thesis in Genetic, Molecular and Cellular Biology Science in 2019. His thesis received the 2019 best doctoral thesis award from the Italian Genetic Association. He has been involved in research projects to investigate the evolution and migrations of human and animal populations using different genetic tools, from mitochondrial DNA to complete genomes of modern and ancient populations. Dr. Capodiferro has co-authored eight original articles in international journals and currently holds a PostDoc fellowship at University of Pavia’s Department of Biology and Biotechnology to study the genomic variation of ancient remains from Panama (ERC CoG 648535) and Lombardy (GEN.EUM.TORARCHEO 2018-2045). His co-authored publications include (ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2494-5423): “Whole Mitogenomes Reveal the History of Swamp Buffalo: Initially Shaped by Glacial Periods and Eventually Modelled by Domestication”, Scientific Reports, 7(1):4708 (2017) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-04830-2; “Mitogenome Diversity in Sardinians: A Genetic Window onto an Island’s Past”, Molecular Biology and Evolution, 34: 5 (2017), DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msx082; and “Analysis of the human Y-chromosome haplogroup Q characterizes ancient population movements in Eurasia and the Americas”, BMC Biology, 17:1 (2019), DOI: 10.1186/s12915-018-0622-4