Dr. Manuela Simonato

Curriculum Vitae

Scopus ID: 23006855200
I earned my Ph.D. in Medical Development (Curriculum: Predictive Medicine) from the University of Padova, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, in 2008. During my doctoral studies, my research focused on the use of stable isotopes as tracers of in vivo metabolic pathways in infants. This is a powerful approach to investigate nutrient processing and metabolic alterations under various physiological and pathological conditions.
Currently, my research centers on understanding and preventing acute organ damage, particularly to the lungs and brain associated with cardiac surgery in infants with complex congenital heart diseases. My overarching goal is to contribute to the development of personalized therapeutic strategies aimed at mitigating the long-term effects of cardiopulmonary bypass in these vulnerable patients.
I have extensive expertise in advanced mass spectrometry techniques, including GC-MS, GC-IRMS, TC-EA/IRMS, and UHPLC-MS/MS. These methods are applied to the analysis of proteins, lipids, and peptides, with a particular emphasis on isotopic enrichment using ¹³C or deuterium tracers. My research is deeply rooted in bioanalytical methodologies, with a focus on designing and optimizing workflows that integrate both targeted and untargeted proteomic, metabolomic, and lipidomic approaches for comprehensive analysis of cells, tissues, and biological fluids.
In addition, I have broad experience with software tools for the identification of small molecules and proteins.
I currently lead the Lipidomics Facility at the IRP Institute.
In 2023 I won as principal investigator the Cariparo Pediatria grant
To date, I have authored 52 original scientific publications, including 10 as first or corresponding author, and hold an H-index of 16.