Valentina LAZAZZARA

Valentina Lazazzara obtained the Master of Science degree in Biotechnologies for the quality and safety of human nutrition on 2013 with the highest mark at University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. She carried out her master thesis at the Plant Transformation and Tissue culture group within the Foundation Edmund Mach (TN), and she developed a high throughput genetic engineering transformation procedure for red raspberry (Rubus idaeusL.). Valentina obtained her Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Life Sciences on 2018 at University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna with the highest mark. Her doctoral studies were carried out both at the Sustainable Ecosystems and Bioresources Department within the Foundation E. Mach, and at the Center for Analytical Chemistry (CAC) of the BOKU-Department IFA-Tulln (Austria).

During her doctoral studies, Valentina studied the mechanisms of plant-plant and plant-microbe communications mediated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). She was able to identify and functionally characterize grapevine and bacterial VOCs emitted during beneficial and pathogenic interactions. Such VOCs were also studied to artificially prime plants for resistance to two dangerous plant pathogens.

Currently, Valentina works at the Laboratory for Flavours and Metabolites within the Laimburg Research Centre as a Post-Doctoral researcher. Her research topic is about chemical analysis, method development and data analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and amino acids of South Tyrolean white wines by using GC-ToF-MS HPLC-QqQ-MS instrumentation, respectively.

As representative of the Youth Group of Mass Spectrometry Division, Valentina will try to bring the culture of Mass Spectrometry closer to students and young researchers and to promote all the events organized by both the Mass Spectrometry Division (DMS) and the Young Group of the Italian Chemical Society (SCI-Giovani) such as prizes, scholarships, conferences and training events.