MSCA Supervisor: Riccardo Manganelli

What impact do EU-funded projects have on a researcher’s career?

Riccardo Manganelli is Full Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine - University of Padua. He has been involved in several EU-funded research projects, and he is currently the supervisor of an MSCA Individual Fellow. EU-funded projects have given him not only a consistent budget for his research activities but also the possibility to “meet several other scientists, discuss with them, develop ideas together and initiate several collaborations, thus growing scientifically”.

Riccardo Manganelli studied at the University of Siena and completed his PhD at the University of Genova. He worked as a Research Associate in the US for five years and then returned to Italy, first as Associate Professor and then as Full Professor at the University of Padua, where he established his own research group.

Prof. Manganelli is the supervisor of Agnese Serafini, an MSCA Fellow who is exploring how variations in metal availability (mimicking the mechanisms of innate immune cells), such as iron and manganese, affect the activity of central metabolism in M. tuberculosis and Mycobacterium abscessus.

Prof. Manganelli, you are the supervisor of Agnese Serafini, a researcher who has recently been awarded an MSCA Individual Fellowship for the project “Myco_Metabolism: How iron and manganese affect central metabolism in pathogenic mycobacteria”. Why did you decide to support Agnese in her application? How did you meet her? How did the proposal idea come about?

Agnese worked with us for a few years, then she found a position at the Crick Institute and spent five years in London. About a year and a half ago, she moved back to Italy and started to work for a Biotech company, but she contacted me to ask whether I would be interested in supporting her for an MSCA Individual Fellowship. Of course, I was very happy, both because I knew her love and enthusiasm for research and because she proposed that we collaborate on a project on the metabolomics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. I have been working on the genetics and physiology of this bacterium for more than 20 years, but I had never used metabolomics, so I thought that it would be a good opportunity to introduce this important expertise into our lab.

The MSCA Individual Fellowships are intended to be training-through-research projects. Can you tell us what the role of an MSCA supervisor is in this kind of action?

The main goal of an MSCA project is to help the Fellow achieve complete scientific independence, so I think that the main role of an MSCA supervisor is to give the Fellow the maximum freedom and always be available to discuss the data and any changes in the experimental plan that may arise from the scientific findings.

What are the main lines of research in your lab? How many people work in it? What do you and your lab have to offer a postdoctoral researcher?

As already mentioned, we work on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a major human pathogen responsible for tuberculosis. In this regard, our main expertise is the study of transcriptional regulation in response to stress. We study how mycobacterial cells react to defend themselves from harmful changes in the environment that they may encounter during infection. Of course, the final goal is to find their Achilles’ heel in order to develop new drugs. At the moment, we are also developing a new assay based on granuloma-like structures to evaluate the efficacy of new antimycobacterial drugs. Basically, we want to reproduce in vitro the macrophage/lymphocyte agglomerates (granulomas) that constitute the natural response of our body to contain mycobacterial growth and dissemination during infection, in order to select new drugs able to penetrate them and reach the bacteria efficiently.

Our group is not large; we are seven people: two faculty members, three PhD students and two post-docs. Of course, we also have several Postgraduate programmes students who rotate through the lab to do their Thesis (usually two or three).

Regarding the last question… probably you should ask the post-docs! Anyway, what I hope is that I am able to offer a very friendly and constructive environment where people feel comfortable and work in full collaboration. Post-docs and PhD students spend so much time in the lab that I think this is an essential point in helping them concentrate on their work and grow scientifically. Additionally, I hope to offer them the opportunity to develop very strong expertise in Bacteriology by working with one of the most difficult and dangerous bacteria. I try to support them in achieving scientific independence through their direct involvement in the decision-making process. Last but not least, given our participation in several European projects, I can offer continuous and intense exposure to contacts with several scientists from other European (and extra-European) countries.

You have been involved in several EU-funded research projects. How have they impacted your career? Do you think that being an MSCA supervisor can also bring added value to your career?

They have had an enormous impact on my career for two main reasons. First, because international projects have provided about 9/10 of my budget during the last ten to fifteen years, so they have allowed me to work. Second, through these projects I have been able to meet several other scientists, discuss with them, develop ideas together and start several collaborations, thus growing scientifically.

Supervising an MSCA fellow can be an added value because it gives the opportunity to help a young colleague grow and, at the same time, bring his or her expertise to the lab.

What tips would you like to share with a researcher who is thinking of applying for an international research project?

Go to meetings (of course when COVID-19 allows it…), talk to people, share ideas, and always be very enthusiastic about your work… I think the main point is to have a large network of colleagues who trust and esteem both you and your expertise. They will most likely invite you to join their proposal or agree to contribute to yours.