Biomedical PhD Researcher · University Hospital Zurich

Gino Andrea Bonazza

Translational Rheumatology, Fibrosis & Biomarker Discovery

Biomedical PhD researcher translating fibrosis, immunology and cardiovascular disease biology into biomarker-oriented research for systemic sclerosis and pulmonary hypertension.

  • Connects bench biology, omics datasets and clinically relevant biomarker questions across systemic sclerosis, fibrosis and cardiovascular complications.
  • Scientific output includes serum proteomics, single-nuclei transcriptomics, a six-protein biomarker model reported at EULAR 2024, and ESC 2025 work based on 158,012 human right-ventricular nuclei.
  • Interested in pharma/biotech R&D roles across translational medicine, fibrosis biology, immunology and therapeutic target identification.
Research focus

Fibrosis biology, translational rheumatology and biomarker discovery.

Gino works at the interface of molecular/cellular biology, translational immunology and data-rich disease biology. His research focuses on systemic sclerosis, macrophage–fibroblast communication and fibrotic tissue remodelling, with particular interest in cardiovascular complications such as pulmonary hypertension, myocardial fibrosis and right ventricular adaptation.

The common thread is translational: moving from disease biology and tissue-level mechanisms toward biomarker pipelines, patient stratification and therapeutic target identification.

Experience

Research roles.

PhD Researcher / Doctoral Researcher

University Hospital Zurich — Department of Rheumatology · Jan 2023 – Present

  • Conducts doctoral research on systemic sclerosis, inflammatory mechanisms and fibrotic tissue remodelling, with focus on macrophage biology and fibroblast–macrophage communication.
  • Investigates cardiovascular complications of systemic sclerosis and fibrotic disease, including myocardial fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular adaptation.
  • Presented EULAR 2024 biomarker work on systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension, including a six-protein model with ROC-AUC 0.857.
  • Presented ESC Congress 2025 single-nuclei transcriptomics work on right ventricular adaptation to pulmonary hypertension, based on 158,012 nuclei from human right ventricular tissue.

Research Fellow — Unit of Neuroimmunology

I.R.C.C.S. Ospedale San Raffaele · Feb 2022 – Aug 2022

  • Worked on in vitro and in vivo validation of chimeric REcTO proteins for the treatment of neuroinflammatory disorders.
  • Built technical foundations across RT-PCR, RNA immunoprecipitation, restriction cloning, lentiviral vector production, mammalian cell culture, immunostaining, Western blot and ELISA.
Selected output

Publications, conference presentations and awards.

Methods

Technical profile.

Wet lab & tissue methods

  • RT-PCR
  • RNA immunoprecipitation
  • Lentiviral vectors
  • Mammalian cell culture
  • Human myocardial slices
  • Immunofluorescence
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Western blot
  • ELISA

Omics, biomarkers & quantitative analysis

  • Single-cell/single-nuclei transcriptomics
  • Serum proteomics
  • Biomarker discovery
  • Seurat
  • edgeR
  • Pseudobulk differential expression
  • Linear/logistic regression
  • ROC-AUC analysis

Therapeutic areas & models

  • Systemic sclerosis
  • Fibrosis
  • Pulmonary hypertension
  • Myocardial fibrosis
  • Translational immunology
  • Neuroimmunology
CV

Download the academic CV.

A concise A4 CV focused on translational rheumatology, fibrosis biology and biomarker discovery.

Download PDF
Education

Academic training.

Master’s Degree, Biotechnology and Medical Biology

Vita-Salute San Raffaele University · Sep 2019 – Jan 2022

Thesis: “Hybrid REcTO proteins: new tools to regulate neuroinflammation” · 110/110 cum laude

Bachelor’s Degree, Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Vita-Salute San Raffaele University · Sep 2016 – Nov 2019

Thesis: “Novel therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease and recent failures: the case of gamma and beta secretase inhibitors” · 110/110 cum laude