Lucia Manni

Lucia Manni is a developmental biologist at the University of Padova whose research focuses on the morphology, development, and evolution of chordates, with particular emphasis on urochordates (ascidians). She received her degree in Biological Sciences with full marks in 1988 and has over 20 years of continuous teaching and research experience at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Padova. She has served as a Researcher there since 1998 and obtained the National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor in Comparative Anatomy and Cytology in 2014.

Dr. Manni is a member of the Developmental Biology and Morphogenesis research group in the Department of Biology, University of Padova. She teaches Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates and Embryology, and her scientific work has produced more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in national and international journals.

Her research explores:

• Stem cells, asexual reproduction, and regeneration in ascidians
• Differentiation and organization of the motor nervous system
• Development of the central nervous system and the origin/evolution of neural placodes in chordates

Over the past decade, her work has focused especially on the evolution and development of the ascidian nervous system in both sexual and asexual reproduction. She has made significant contributions to the study of sensory systems in ascidian larvae and adults, including research on the coronal organ, a mechanoreceptive structure composed of hair cells. These findings have helped revise ideas on hair cell evolution and provided evidence for ascidian structures that share similarities with vertebrate neural placodes, offering important insights into the evolutionary origins of vertebrate innovations.

Dr. Manni has also been active in scientific leadership and service, including conference organization, invited lectures, editorial work, international collaborations, and review activities for journals and funding agencies.