I started my scientific career at the University of Geneva in Switzerland where I obtained my Diploma degree in Biology. After obtaining scholarships and fellowships from both industry and academic entities, I joined the Department of Physiology at the University of Melbourne in Australia, where I obtained my PhD degree. I then joined the University of California San Diego (UCSD) where I worked as post-doctoral fellow in Cardiology and project scientist in Orthopaedic Surgery. In 2015 I was recruited to work as principal investigator in PM&R at Northwestern University and at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

As a principal investigator in PM&R and at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, I aim to identify new mechanisms relating to muscle tissue and muscle stem cell dysfunction, as well as genetic and epigenetic modifications affecting muscle, nerve plasticity or therapy outcomes in patients with neurological and neuromuscular conditions.

Drug repurposing: My lab was instrumental in identifying anti-cancer 5-azacytidine as an agent that could restore myogenic potential to muscle stem cells from contractured muscle, thus suggesting that DNA methyltransferase inhibitors and other hypomethylating agents like 5-azacytidine could be repurposed to treat muscle contractures non-surgically in children with cerebral palsy.