Professore Associato, Florence University
Office: 312. Phone: +39 055 457 2318
E-mail: francesco.piazza AT unifi.it
Publications: Google Scholar
Research topics: Physics of living systems, non equilibrium statistical physics
Research interests
We are interested in studying fundamental aspects of the physics of living systems in the effort of answering basic biological questions. For example, we investigate how cells sense and elaborate chemical and mechanical signals
leading to complex decision-making, e.g. connected to cellular motility and cancer metastasis, or how the complex crowded environments in the cell, membranes or extra-cellular environments, influence the activity of non-equilibrium molecular machines, such as enzymes and molecular motors. We work in close collaboration with experimental colleagues at UNIFI, in other Italian
universities and abroad following a data-driven, bottom-up approach, where we make an effort to parameterise thermodinamically consistent, coarse-grahed theoretical and computational models from as microscopic a level as possible.