Marta Giovanetti

My research focuses on investigating the patterns of gene flow in pathogen populations, focusing in phylogenetics and phylogeography as tools to recreate and understand the determinants of viral outbreaks and how this information can be translated into public policy recommendations. More specifically, my research focuses on recent arboviral outbreaks in Latin America (Zika, Chikungunya, Dengue and Yellow fever viruses and more recently SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil, Italy, and South Africa), combining genetic, spatial, and ecological information. I am interested in the epidemiology and ecology of viruses in natural populations. My research involves developing and applying techniques to integrate virus genetic data with traditional clinical and demographic data. My research focuses on generating viral whole-genomes in real-time using nanopore sequencing technology and to analyse large datasets of genetic data to gain insights into the origins and mode of spread of key viral pathogens with significant public health impact.

After completing my PhD in molecular evolution of RNA viruses in the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy and performing field work in Sierra Leone with Ebola virus, I’ve started a postdoctoral position in the Laboratory of Prof. Luiz Carlos Junior Alcantara at the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Brazil, investigating the evolution of arthropod-borne viruses. I am currently a Research (Virology/Microbiology) at the University of Rome Campus-Biomedico and a visiting Researcher at the Regional Reference Laboratory of Flavivirus in the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Within 2020-2021 I was an International Professional Consultant at the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).

She has authored 170 articles published in international peer-review journals, 2 book chapters and she also have involved in the development of 3 open-source software for virus genotyping. Regarding human resources, she has already co-advised 5 Ph.D. students, advised 2 Ph.D. students, 3 MSc students and 1 graduate student.