International School of Biophysics «Antonio Borsellino»

Lecturers

 

51st Course
Chromatin landscapes: Linking physical reality with biological destiny

Erice – Sicily · 15–21 October 2026

Directors of the Course R. Bizzarri · A. Diaspro · E. Hinde
School International School of Biophysics «Antonio Borsellino»
Course 51st Course · 2026
51st Course

Lecturers

 

The scientific programme will bring together internationally recognized researchers working at the interface between biophysics, chromatin organization, molecular biology, advanced microscopy and quantitative approaches to biological systems.

Bruce Alberts
Lecturer

Bruce Alberts

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Medicine
University of California San Francisco, USA

Lecture Learning from failure: Life as an education.
Andrew Belmont
Lecturer

Andrew Belmont

Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Institute for Genomic Biology
Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA

Lecture Nuclear organization and genome function.
Paolo Bianchini
Lecturer

Paolo Bianchini

Nanoscopy, Center for Human Technologies
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

Lecture Resolving chromatin: nanoscopy tools to see its three-dimensional organization.
Ranieri Bizzarri
Course Director & Lecturer

Ranieri Bizzarri

Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine
University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Lecture Fluorescence and chromatin landscapes.
Francesca Cella Zanacchi
Lecturer

Francesca Cella Zanacchi

Department of Physics “E. Fermi”
University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Lecture Studying DNA damage and the cellular response to ionizing radiation
Christoph Cremer
Lecturer

Christoph Cremer

Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz, Germany
Max Planck Institutes for Polymer Research and for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing (IWR) and Kirchhoff Institute for Physics, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Lecture Imaging and quantitative analysis of the chromatin landscape by Super-Resolution Microscopy.
Ines Delfino
Lecturer

Ines Delfino

Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences
University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy

Lecture Study of chromatin modifications in cells under stress using vibrational spectroscopy
Alberto Diaspro
Course Director & Lecturer

Alberto Diaspro

Department of Physics, University of Genoa
Nanoscopy, Center for Human Technologies
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

Lecture Polarization and phase label free optical microscopy to study chromatin landscapes.
Jerzy Dobrucki
Lecturer

Jerzy Dobrucki

Department of Cell Biophysics
Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Lecture Interaction of photons of various energies with DNA, fluorescence imaging and next generation sequencing.
Irene Farabella
Lecturer

Irene Farabella

Armenise-Harvard Integrative Nuclear Architecture
Center for Human Technologies
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

Lecture 3D genome.
Nicole Francis
Lecturer

Nicole Francis

Biochemistry of Epigenetic Inheritance Research Unit
Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Lecture Protein polymerization and phase separation in Polycomb function
Elizabeth Hinde
Course Director & Lecturer

Elizabeth Hinde

Laboratory for Cellular Biophysics
School of Physics
The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Lecture Navigating the Chromatin Landscape from Molecular Architecture to DNA Target Search.
Luca Lanzanò
Lecturer

Luca Lanzanò

Department of Physics and Astronomy “Ettore Majorana”, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) - Sezione di Catania, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy

Lecture Investigation of chromatin organization in live cells by advanced imaging techniques and labeling with fluorescent dyes.
Stefano Manzo
Lecturer

Stefano Manzo

Department of Biosciences
University of Milan, Italy

Lecture Chromatin Dynamics at the Nuclear Periphery and Genomic Approaches to Study Genome Structure
Davide Mazza
Lecturer

Davide Mazza

Experimental Imaging Center, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele
Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

Lecture Dynamics of diffusible factors in the eukaryotic nucleus
Mario Nicodemi
Lecturer

Mario Nicodemi

Department of Physics, University of Naples “Federico II”
INFN, Naples, Italy

Lecture Phase transitions in the nucleus of cells shape chromatin 3D architecture and functions
Aldo Pagano
Lecturer

Aldo Pagano

Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Genoa
IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

Lecture The extreme plasticity of neoplastic cells in solid tumors and changes in chromatin structure.
Walter Rocchia
Lecturer

Walter Rocchia

Computational Modelling of Nanoscale and Biophysical Systems (CONCEPT) Lab
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

Lecture Continuum Electrostatics for Chromatin: From Poisson–Boltzmann Theory to Multiscale Models and Electrostatics of the Nucleosome
Spartaco Santi
Lecturer

Spartaco Santi

Institute of Molecular Genetics “Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza”
National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Bologna, Italy

Lecture The Journey of DNA Beyond the Genome.
Valeria Vetri
Lecturer

Valeria Vetri

Department of Physics and Chemistry “Emilio Segrè”
University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Lecture Biomolecular condensates: mechanisms of formation and maturation
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