Anna Elena Pepe

Anna Elena Pepe is currently a third year PhD student in Professor Qingbo Xu's laboratory at King's College London. The focus of her PhD project is the contribution of stem/progenitor cells to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and in particular the role of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 3 (Nrf3) in mediating stem cell differentiation into smooth muscle cells.

Stem cell differentiation and cardiovascular disease have been the main topic of interest of Anna's research. She graduated in Medical Biotechnology at the University of Bologna Italy in 2006 (cum laude) with a thesis on mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes and the prospects for regenerative medicine of myocardial infarct. She further specialized in stem cell biology by attending a Stem Cell Course at the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, NY, in the Summer of 2006.