ZANI Claudia

Born in Rovato (Italy), on 5th July 1973.
She graduated in Biological Science from the University of Milano on 10th May 2000 and specialized in Hygiene at the Specialization School of University of Milano on 11th July 2002.
Since 2000 she has been involved in health environmental studies with emphasis on mutagenicity of environmental mixtures (urban air and indoor pollution, drinking water and wastewater, mineral water in PET bottles, pesticide contamination of food, contaminated soils, resins used in prosthodontics) at the Department of Experimental and Applied Medicine, Hygiene section, at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Brescia. These studies have been carried out by means of bacterial mutagenicity tests, such as Ames test or Kado test on Salmonella typhimurium, genotoxicity tests using plants such as Tradescantia (Tradescantia/micronuclei test) and Allium cepa (Roots Anaphase Aberration Assay and Allium Root-Micronucleus Assay) and Comet test to study primary DNA damage in human leukocytes. The results of these studies have been published in several Italian and international scientific papers.
Since November 2002 to February 2003 she was involved in a study on the genetic susceptibility in the development and pathogenesis of heart failure at the Institute of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of Brescia.
Researcher since April 2006 at the Department of Experimental and Applied Medicine, Hygiene section, at the University of Study of Brescia.
Since 2006 she was involved in a multicenter observational study that evaluate factors influencing efficacy, tolerance and compliance to antiviral treatment with interferon and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients in daily clinical practice.
Since 2006 she was involved in epidemiological analyses on PCB contamination in Brescia area.
She took part to the following national (PRIN) and international research programs:
- PRIN 1999 - "Study of the potential genotoxic effects of surface water disinfected with chlorine or alternative disinfectants." the experiment was conducted at a pilot plant that disinfected surface water with three different disinfectants to assess their genotoxic using a battery of tests in vivo (with vegetables, fish and shellfish) and in vitro (bacteria, yeast and human cells) with different genetic end-points.
- PRIN 2001 "Study of the formation of mutagenic water in drinking water of some Italian cities" The study evaluated several chemical and physical parameters and analyzed the drinking water of four Italian cities through a battery of tests in vivo and in vitro to evaluate the quality of drinking water and the possible genotoxic action of the same waters, identifying risks to human health associated with the consumption of disinfected water.
- PRIN 2005-2007, ITAHECS -The Italian Hepatitis C Cohort Study (ITAHECS) designed to evaluate factors that influence response to anti-viral therapy. She was involved in genetic analysis for the evaluation of individual susceptibility of certain genes involved in the response to antiviral therapy in the management and analysis of data.
- AIFA 2007-2010 "A multicenter observational study to evaluate factors influencing efficacy, tolerance and compliance to antiviral treatment with interferon and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients in daily clinical practice" She has involved in genetic analysis for the evaluation of individual susceptibility of genes involved in the response to antiviral therapy and in the management and analysis of data.
- 2011- 2012 she was involved in an investigation of disorders and respiratory diseases and factors related to them in the child population living in an high polluted area of the city of Brescia (S. Polo) committed by Local Health Authority
- 2011-2013 RESPIRA study on the biological effects of exposure to air pollutants, such as DNA damage and the presence of micronuclei in the cells of the oral mucosa and the factors that can influence the damage in 3-5 years children of the city of Brescia.
- From 2014-2016 MAPEC_LIFE study Monitoring air pollution effects in children for supporting public health policy. The study, funded by the EU LIFE+ Programme 2012 (LIFE12 ENV/IT/000614), will be carried out on 6-8-year-old children living in five Italian towns in two different seasons. Two biomarkers of early biological effects, DNA damage detected with the comet assay and frequency of micronuclei, will be investigated in buccal cells of 1000 children.
- From 2015 she is coordinating the project funded by Fondazione Cariplo "A biotechnological approach to the development of new antifungal pesticides to protect the environment and human health". Ref Practice 2014-0555.

Besides being involved in this scientific activity, she teaches Public Health and Preventive Medicine in various schools for health professionals, including doctoral and post-doctoral medical schools at the University of Brescia.