Dr. Valentina Greco was born in Palermo, Italy, and earned her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Palermo, Italy (1996). She earned her PhD at the EMBL/MPI-CBG, Germany (1998-2002), her post-doc at Rockefeller University (2003-2009), and is currently a Professor in the Genetics, Cell Biology, and Dermatology Departments, and a member of the Yale Stem Cell Center and Yale Cancer Center at Yale University (2009-present). Dr. Greco has been the recipient of many awards over her career, most recently the 2021 International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Momentum Award, the 2019 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the 2019 Yale Postdoctoral Mentoring Award, the 2018 Yale Graduate Mentor Award in the Natural Sciences, and in 2018 was named the Inaugural Holder of the Carolyn Slayman Endowed Professorship. Dr. Greco’s primary research interests include Cell Biology, Dermatology, Genetics, Neoplasms by Histologic Type, Regeneration, Stem Cell Niche, and Stem Cells.