Francesca VIVALDA

Francesca VIVALDA

  • Postdoc
  • Research Gerlich

Biographical sketch

Francesca grew up in Italy. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from Sapienza University of Rome and continued her studies at the same university, with a Master's degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology. As part of her Master's thesis, she joined the Pellegrini Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a visiting student. She then moved to Switzerland to pursue her PhD in the Sartori Lab at the Institute of Molecular Cancer Research at the University of Zurich. There, her worked focused on investigating molecular mechanisms associated with DNA replication stress and PARP inhibitor resistance in cancer cells. From February 2026, she joined the Gerlich Lab at the Vienna BioCenter for her Postdoc, where she uses cutting-edge sequencing approaches to study DNA repair at the genomic scale. Outside of the lab, she enjoys painting, hiking, and sailing.