2020 – present: Non-tenured assistant professor (RTDa) DiBio/Unipd/ Italy. Research topic: Study of the role of ion channels in human pathologies. EDUCATION AND TRAINING 2018 – present: Habilitation for Associate Professorship: 05/E1 (BIO/10 – General Biochemistry) and 05/A2 (BIO/04 – Plant Physiology). 2008-2011: Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biotechnology - curriculum in Biotechnology . University of Padua, Italy. 2006: Master’s degree in Industrial Biotechnology (Summa cum laude). University of Padua, Italy. 2004: First degree in Biotechnology - Biotechnology . University of Padua, Italy. TEACHING From 2020-present: Teaching position as non-tenured assistant professor (RTDa). Topics: Biochemistry, Degree Course in Natural Sciences and Natural and Environmental Sciences. Unipd/Italy. 2020-2021: Teaching position as RTDa. Topics: Experimental Biochemistry, Degree Course in Molecular Biology and in Biotechnology. Unipd/Italy. 2017-2018: Teaching position as contract lecturer for the Course of Biochemistry 1, Degree Course in Biology. Unipd/Italy 2016-2017: Teaching position as contract lecturer for the Course of advanced molecular plant biology, Master's Degree Course in Biomolecular science and evolution. Unife/Italy From 2008: Integrative/laboratory class teaching for several bachelor’s and master's degree courses (238 hours in total), Unipd/Italy Since the 2008/2009: Co-supervisor of students of Bachelor’s Degree and Master's Degree and co-tutor of a PhD student (PhD in Biosciences) PUBLICATIONS From 2010 to 2023, Vanessa Checchetto authored 40 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and international books. Among these publications, she is the first or co-first author on 16, the last or co-last author on 3, and the corresponding author or co-author on 6. For more details, you can view her profile on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=EP8fNxkAAAAJ&hl=it FUNDING 1. PI of the Integrated Research Budget project of the Department (BIRD-DiBio) 2. Co-PI of the research group for a PRIN project 2022. 3. Member of the research group for the project: National Recovery and Resilience Plan - PNRR - CN3 Spoke 1. 4. Co-partner of the research group for the project: Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo - Call for Scientific Research of Excellence 2021. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Awards and recognition 2021: IJMS (International Journal of Molecular Sciences) 2020 Young Investigator Award in the fields of Molecular Biophysics 2012: Winner of Aldo Gini fellowship to work at CE), Grenoble, France

Curriculum PDF File

From 2010 to 2021 I published 34 peer-reviewed papers, several of them in high-impact journals, e.g., Nature, Science, PNAS, Molecular Cell, and main author and 3 in international books. Among these publications, in 14 articles I am first or co-first author, in 1 article I am co-last author and in 5 articles I am corresponding author. In 28 articles I am an author without my Ph.D. supervisor as co-author. Also, I am the author or co-author of 4 conference papers and 1 abstract in conference proceedings. My main contribution to the field of ion channels concerns the discovery/characterization of 3 mitochondrial ion channels with a proven high impact on cancer cell behavior (MCU, VDACs and PTP). I contributed to our understanding of the regulation of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) and gave a crucial contribution to the characterization of VDAC3 and the discovery that it acts as a redox sensor in the intermembrane space of mitochondria. I furthermore participated in the studies to identify the molecular components of the permeability transition pore (PTP). Finally, I identified the molecular components of the mitochondrial ATP-dependent potassium channel, important for cardioprotection. I became exposed to research on cancer and now I am willing to comprehend how cancer-related ion channels can be regulated by interaction partners.

Last update: 14/03/2025