Barbara Testoni, PhD

Biography

Barbara Testoni is a research scientist and team leader at The Lyon Hepatology Institute EVEREST, Lyon, France. She obtained her PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Milan, working on eukaryotic transcriptional regulation in the setting of skin development. Then, she moved to the University of Rome "La Sapienza", where she began to work on liver disease and type-I interferon signaling. At present, her research interests mainly include the investigation of the epigenetic mechanisms at the basis of host and viral gene regulation during HBV infection, with particular focus on the transcriptional regulation of the HBV minichromosome. She is also involved in translational studies, to the aim of understanding the relationships between HBV persistence and intrahepatic innate immunity perturbations and to characterizing new serum biomarkers for intrahepatic cccDNA activity. A particular focus is given to the investigation of chronic hepatitis B natural history and viral biomarkers in resource-limited countries. Dr. Testoni is an active member of the French "national agency for the research on HIV, viral hepatitis and emerging infectious diseases (ANRS|MIE)", the "International Coalition to Eliminate HBV (ICE-HBV)" and the Hepatitis B Foundation "emerging Scholar and Medical Advisory Board (eSMAB)".