Author: Mikele Milia

On March 20th, 2025, we proudly celebrated the achievements of Isotta Trescato, Giulia Cesaro, and Francesca Longhin, who successfully defended their Ph.D. theses in Information Engineering at the University of Padua. 🎉

Each of them conducted outstanding research on cutting-edge topics in computational medicine and bioinformatics, contributing valuable knowledge and tools to their respective fields.

🔬 Giulia Cesaro focused her PhD research on the development of computational methods to infer cell-cell communication using single-cell RNA sequencing data. Her work allows for a deeper understanding of how cells interact with each other in complex tissues—knowledge that is critical for interpreting biological processes such as development, immune response, and disease progression.

🧬 Francesca Longhin worked on enhancing variant calling and interpretation pipelines through data-driven in-silico simulations and artificial intelligence techniques. Her project improves the accuracy and reliability of genetic variant analysis, a fundamental aspect of personalized medicine and genomic diagnostics.

📊 Isotta Trescato dedicated her thesis to transparent artificial intelligence approaches for modeling disease progression using real-world clinical registry data. Her goal was to build predictive models that are not only accurate but also interpretable by clinicians—an essential requirement for integrating AI into real-world healthcare settings.

We are proud to announce that five of our PhD students recently presented their innovative research during the 2nd edition of the “Young Minds at Work: Blending Biomedical Sciences and Bioinformatics” conference. Their contributions included two oral presentations and three poster presentations, showcasing the depth and breadth of their scientific work.

Oral Presentations:

• Matteo Baldan: “Simulation of bacteria interaction networks: from topology to species abundance.”
• Gaia Tussardi: “Addressing the Biological Interpretation of High-Dimensional Cell-Cell Communication Data from Single Cell Transcriptomics Through an Interactive Web Application.”

Poster Presentations:

This conference offered an exceptional platform for our students to share their insights, gain valuable feedback, and engage with the broader scientific community working at the intersection of biomedical sciences and bioinformatics.

Congratulations to our team for their outstanding contributions and impactful research presentations! Let’s keep pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery.