Chiara Pastura was born in Catania on January 17, 1995. In March 2019, she received the Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, presenting a thesis titled "Surfaces resistant to non-specific adsorption of biological fluid components". Through this work, she gained knowledge of innovative materials employed in biosensors to prevent the non-specific adsorption of protein components commonly found in biological matrices. On November 17, 2023, she graduated with a Master’s degree in Biomolecular Chemistry (110/110 cum laude), presenting a thesis entitled “Integration of microfluidics and surface plasmon resonance for tumor genomic systems detection”. She acquired expertise in microfluidics, microscopy, and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) techniques during her thesis work. Since December 1, 2023, she has been a PhD student in Chemical Sciences. She is currently working on her PhD project entitled "New analytical approaches for early cancer diagnosis based on liquid biopsy” in the Bioanalytical Chemistry laboratory of her PhD supervisor, Prof. Giuseppe Spoto.
[16.04.2025]
Thesis title: New analytical approaches for early cancer diagnosis based on liquid biopsy
Keywords: Liquid biopsy, Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), Microfluidics, Superparamagnetic particles, Cancer diagnosis
Abstract: Il lavoro di tesi si propone di sviluppare un metodo analitico innovativo per la diagnosi precoce del cancro, con l’obiettivo di rilevare quantità minime di biomarcatori tumorali circolanti nel sangue, una delle principali sfide per gli strumenti diagnostici basati su biopsia liquida. A tale scopo, il lavoro si focalizza sulla realizzazione di un sistema che integra microfluidica e risonanza plasmonica di superficie, sfruttandone le peculiari proprietà quando viene combinata all’uso di biglie funzionalizzate per amplificarne la sensibilità nella rilevazione.
