Ylli Doksani, biologist, specialized in molecular biology and genetics. Since April 2016 directs the Replication Stress Response program at IFOM.
Born in 1977 in Durrës, Albania, Ylli graduated with honors in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan in 2002.
In 2008 obtained his PhD in Marco Foiani’s lab in IFOM where he studied the molecular mechanisms that deal with DNA double strand breaks during replication. In his PhD studies he uncovered an unanticipated role for the ATM/Mre11 pathway in stabilizing terminal forks and showed that dormant DNA replication origins become active in the presence of a DSB nearby.read more
We study the molecular mechanisms of the replication stress response in mammalian cells. Our overarching goal is to understand the mechanisms that ensure the stability of the genome and their involvement in cancer and ageing.
DNA replication stress is a major cause of genome instability; it is induced by DNA damaging agents such as UV, oxidants or chemotherapeutics, but can also occur spontaneously at some chromosomal regions known as replication fragile sites. A particularly relevant example of such fragile sites are telomeres: the terminal parts of our chromosomes. read more