Virginia Pensabene, PhD

In 2005 Virginia Pensabene received her Laurea degree (equivalent to B.S. + M.S.) in Biomedical Electronic Engineering from the Università di Pisa (Italy) and then went on to finish her Ph.D. in Humanoid Technologies from the Università di Genova (Italy) in 2009. After graduation, she worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for MicroBiorobotics of the Italian Institute of Technology from 2009 to 2011. There, she studied artificial vectors for gene therapy and developed flexible thin films for in vitro tissue engineering of neuronal, cardiac and mesenchymal stem cell growth. In August 2011, she came to Vanderbilt where she worked on ultrathin films, bioadhesive membranes for localized therapy, and fetal repair of neuronal defects. She collaborated in NIH/NCATS funded project for the development of a neurovascular unit on a chip from 2013 to the end of 2014. She is now Research Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering and in the WRHRC team she is focused on the development of reproductive organs-on-a-chip as new models for endometriosis and infertility studies.