Alessandra Luchini (Perugia)
Alessandra is presently a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Perugia, Italy, where she is establishing her own research group. After postdocs at ILL, Grenoble and University of Copenhagen Dr Alessandra Luchini obtained position as lead instrument scientist for the construction of the ESTIA neutron reflectometer first at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland (2021) and subsequently at the European Spallation Source (ESS) ERIC, Lund, Sweden (2022).
Her research activities cover the structural investigation of membranes and the interplay between membrane proteins and lipids with various surface sensitive techniques, including neutron reflectometry. In her scientific work, she demonstrated her strength as an independent researcher by developing sample preparation protocols, the incorporation of transmembrane proteins in supported lipid bilayers, the characterization of lipid membranes produced with natural lipid extracts, and the development of data analysis methods for combining neutron reflectometry and molecular dynamic simulations. Thanks to her extensive research activities Alessandra created a wide and many close collaborations in the spirit of Professor Maria Miguel. This includes leading experts not only in the field of biological membranes and biophysics, but also in neutron reflectometry as well as neutron techniques in general. She combines excellence in membrane biophysics with deep understanding of scattering and reflectometry techniques, where she also contributed to method development including modelling.