Lucia Speroni
Lucia Speroni dedicated many years to the study of tumor development and obtained her Ph.D. in 2008 in Argentina. She then decided that to understand disease we should first know more about how tissues form. During her postdoc at Tufts University she used 3D cultures to observe how single cells form tissues via mechanical forces and cell-matrix interactions. The findings became the grounds of a mathematical model of mammary gland morphogenesis. Zooming out in the big picture we find that as the cell, the minimal unit that forms tissues, is influenced by the surrounding environment, the same holds true for the organism. Dr. Speroni became fascinated by how exposure to hormone-mimics and other man-made chemicals can disrupt the organism and increase the risk of developing cancer and other diseases. She has developed a bioassay to allow researchers to identify potential breast carcinogens and the mechanisms responsible for the adverse effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Dr. Speroni currently works as a scientific writer and is committed to unveil the wonders of science to a broad audience.