Elisabetta Castoldi

Associate professor

Dr Elisabetta Castoldi studied Biology (with a major in Molecular Genetics) at Ferrara University (Italy) and graduated cum laudein 1996. After defending her PhD thesis entitled 'Molecular bases of APC resistance and factor V deficiency in thrombophilia' under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Bernardi (2001), she moved to Maastricht University (The Netherlands) for post-doctoral training in coagulation biochemistry in Prof. Jan Rosing’s laboratory. In 2006, she was awarded a Vidi grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), which allowed her to establish her own research line.

Her research activity focusses on the elucidation of (inherited) coagulation defects that predispose to bleeding or venous thrombosis, with particular reference to factor V, the protein C pathway and the tissue factor pathway inhibitor system. Her work spans the whole flow of genetic information from DNA (mutation screening and interpretation), to RNA (mRNA analysis, with special emphasis on pre-mRNA splicing and its regulation) and protein (functional assays in model systems and in plasma). Most recently, she has been exploringthe unique functional properties of alternatively spliced variants of fibrinogen (fibrinogen γ’) and FV (FV-short).