Camilla obtained her first degree at the University of Florence, Italy, in which she majored in Biological Sciences. She then studied for a MSc in Molecular biology and spent 6 months working on a research project investigating muscle stem evolution in the group of Dr. Michalis Averof at the institut de Genomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Lyon, France. This aimed to identify conserved regulators of Pax7-expressing muscle progenitor cells in Parhyale hawaiensis, an arthropod model for limb regeneration. Subsequently she moved to King’s College London to work on a collaborative project between Prof. Benedicte Chazaud (Lyon, France) and Dr. Robert Knight, to develop an in vivo system for testing the importance of gene function in macrophages for muscle regeneration.

She is funded by a Muscle Dystrophy UK studentship to investigate the importance of a muscle dystrophy gene, DUX4, in muscle stem cells. Results from this project will ultimately highlight potential new routes for therapy for this currently incurable disease.