Gabriella MoscaPh.D. – Physicist - Biomechanist

Bärenbohlstrasse 478046 Zürich, (CH)

H +39 335 5348 864B gabriella.mosca@botinst.uzh.ch

Í www.gabriella-mosca.com

Born on March 15, 1983Italian citizen

A physicist used to work in international and interdisciplinary teams, a fast and motivated learnerwith strong analytical and communication skills.

Main Scientific Skills– Knowledge of solid continuum mechanics and mechanics of biological growth.– Development of FEM-based mechanical simulation for multicellular and con-

tinuous structures, with membranes and solid elements in 3D:- quantitative steady state mechanical analysis in multicellular plant tissues

contexts;- mechanically based growth simulations (mostly for plants) in the continuous

limit and with cellular resolution.– 2D and 3D image processing and analysis with image quantification software

(MorphoGraphX, Imaris).– Experience with cellular force microscopy.

Experience2018 – Postdoc, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zürich,

Switzerland.– Development, in Célia Baroux lab, of a modeling framework and protocols to

simulate the bio-mechanical processes involved in the ovule development inplant germline both in 2D (cell growth and division, spring-based model) and3D (FEM-based modeling of cell mechanics and growth).

– Collaboration with Arezki Boudaoud and Christophe Godin at the ENS inLyon for modeling of biomechanical properties in plant tissues and integratedsoftware development.

2016 – 2017 Postdoc, Department of Comparative Development and Genetics, Max PlanckInstitute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.– Modeling of plant growth in 3D with a computational approach based on si-

mulations of continuum mechanics for growth (in-house built software usingFEM). Inclusion of active FEM element refinement with residual stresses pro-pagation during growth simulation and integration of the mechanical softwarewith morphogenetic signaling.

Education2010 – 2016 Ph.D., University of Bern, Switzerland.

In collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne,Germany.Subject: Modeling the Mechanics of Plant Morphogenesis. Interdisciplinary Ph.D.funded by SystemsX.ch at the crosspoint between physics, computer science andbiology.Advisor: Dott. Richard Smith, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research,Cologne, Germany.– Study of plant morphogenesis and characterization of plant tissue mechani-

cal properties with a physically based approach combined with quantitativematching of experimental observations.

– Development of a FEM software for continuum mechanics simulations basedon C++ and parallelized by means of CUDA.

2006 – 2010 M. Sc. in Physics, University of Insubria, Italy.Subject: Entanglement, chaos and complexity of quantum dynamics.Advisor: Prof. Giuliano Benenti, University of Insubria, Italy.Co-advisor: Prof. Giorgio Mantica, Univeristy of Insurbia, Italy.

2002 – 2006 B. Sc. in Physics, University of Insubria, Italy.Subject: Non linear effects in the expansion of Bose-Einstein condensates.Advisor: Prof. Alberto Parola, University of Insubria, Italy.

Summer schools attended and Workshops2017 Dynamics of Plant Development and Evolution, PSC Symposium, Zürich, Swit-

zerland2017 Multi-level modelling of morphogenesis, EMBO Practical Course, Norwich,

United Kingdom.2016 PUMPS Summer School, Programming and Tuning Massively Parallel Systems,

Barcelona, Spain.2016 7th Summer School on Biomechanics of Soft Tissues: Multiscale Modeling, Si-

mulation and Applications, Graz, Austria.2015 International Summer School on HPC Challenges in Computational Sciences,

Toronto, Canada.2015 SystemsX.ch Retreat 2015: Better Results Through Diversity, Rigi Kaltbad, Swit-

zerland.2014 Introduction to Scientific Programming using GPGPU and CUDA, Bologna, Ita-

ly.2012 Ph.D. student retreat organized with HFP consulting, Engelberg, Switzerland.2012 Summer School on Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, Graz, Au-

stria.2012 SystemsX.ch Summer School in Muerren, Switzerland.2011 Workshop on Plant Light Responses, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

2011 Molecular Plant Science Ph.D. annual retreat in Rolle, Switzerland.2009 SIGRAV Graduate School - VIII Edition - Gravity, where do we stand?2008 SIGRAV Graduate School - VII Edition - The Dark Side of the Universe.

Participation to national and international conferences2018 9th International Plant Biomechanics Conference, Montreal, Canada.2014 2nd International SystemsX.ch Conference on Systems Biology, Lausanne, Swit-

zerland.2013 All SystemsX.ch Day, Bern, Switzerland.2012 European Solid Mechanics Conference, Graz, Austria.2011 1st International SystemsX.ch Conference on Systems Biology, Basel, Switzer-

land.

Computer skills and competencesLanguages C/C++, Fortran, Python, Matlab, Bash

Software Abaqus, MS Office, MorphographX, LATEX, Gimp, Gnuplot, Paraview, Inkscape,Illustrator, Photoshop

Op. systems Linux, macOS, WindowsSpecial skills FEM simulations, parallel and high performance computing (CUDA, MPI, Open-

MP), scientific data visualization and analysis (MorphoGraphX, Paraview, Gnu-plot)

Honors and Fellowships2018 Forschungskredit fellowship from the University of Zurich. MorphoMechanX, a

platform to model plant tissue bio-mechanics: Final development and a case studyapplication

Teaching2014 Teaching assistant for Fisica I (basic physics course) at University of Insubria

Presence on Media2014 SystemsX.ch X-Letter: Interview (The code of life), issue of June.

Language skillsItalian Mother tongue

English Full written and oral proficiency (C1)German Intermediate (B1)

Non-academic Activities2010 Touristic guide in the karstic cave Buco del Piombo, Erba, Italy

2009 – 2010 Development and maintenance of the website for the cultural association CulturaGiovane, Como, Italy

2005 Scientific tour guide at the exhibition Physics around us: how 100 years of physicschanged the world we live in, held in Como, Italy, on the occasion of the WorldYear of Physics

2002 – 2010 Private teacher in mathematics and physics

List of Publications

1. Natonik-Biao, S.; Borowska-Wykrt, D., Mosca, G.; Grelowski, M.; Wrzalik,R., Smith, R., Kwiatkowska, D.Deformation of a cell monolayer due to osmotictreatment: a case study of onion scale epidermis. Submitted to Botany

2. Yuchen, L., Cheddadi, I., Mirabet, V., Mosca, G., Dumond, M., Godin, C.,Boudaoud, A. Cellular heterogeneity in pressure and growth emerges fromtissue topology and geometry. Under revision in Nature Physics

3. Kierzkowski, D.†, Runions, A.†, Vuolo, F., Strauss, S., Jenke, H., Lymbou-ridou, R., Routier-Kierzkowska, A. L., Galinha, C., Mosca, G., Zhang, Z.,Canales, C., Dello Ioio, R., Huijser, P., Smith, R. S., Tsiantis, M. A growth-based framework for development and diversity of leaf shape. Submitted toCell

4. Mosca, G., Adibi, M., Strauss, S., Runions, A., Sapala, A., Smith, R. S.Modeling plant tissue growth and cell division. Mathematical Modelling inPlant Biology (Springer International Publishing), 2018. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-99070-5

5. Sapala, A., Runions, A., Routier-Kierzkowska, A. L., Das Gupta, M., Hong, L.,Hofhuis, H., Verger, S., Mosca, G., Li, C. B., Hay, A., Hamant, O., Roeder,A. H. K., Tsiantis, M., Prusinkiewicz, P., Smith, R. S. Why plants make puzzlecells, and how their shape emerges. eLife, 2018; 7:e32794. doi: 10.7554/eLi-fe.32794

6. Mosca, G., Sapala, A., Strauss, S., Smith, R. S. On the micro-indentationof plant cells in a tissue context. Phys. Biol., 2017 Feb 9;14(1):015003. doi:10.1088/1478-3975/aa5698

7. Hofhuis, H.†, Moulton, D.†, Lessinnes, T.†, Routier-Kierzkowska, A. L.†, Bom-phrey, R. J.†, Mosca, G., Reinhardt, H., Sarchet, P., Gan, X., Tsiantis, M.,Ventikos, Y., Walker, S., Goriely, A., Smith, R. and Hay, A.(2016). Mor-phomechanical Innovation Drives Explosive Seed Dispersal. Cell, 2016 Jun30;166(1):222-33. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.05.002. † These authors contributedequally to the publication.

8. Weber, A., Braybrook, S., Huflejt, M., Mosca, G., Routier-Kierzkowska, A. L.,Smith, R. S. Measuring the mechanical properties of plant cells by combiningmicro-indentation with osmotic treatments. JXB, 66(11) (2015): 3229-3241.doi: 10.1093/jxb/erv135

9. Bassel, G. W., Stamm, P., Mosca, G., de Reuille, P. B., Gibbs, D. J., Win-ter, R., Janka, A., Holdsworth, M. J. and Smith, R. S. Mechanical cons-traints imposed by 3D cellular geometry and arrangement modulate growthpatterns in the Arabidopsis embryo. PNAS, 111(23) (2014): 8685-8690. doi:10.1073/pnas.1404616111

References– Dr. Richard Smith

Department of Comparative Development and Genetics,Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Köln (DE)email: smith@mpipz.mpg.de tel: +49 221 5062 130

– PD Dr. Célia BarouxDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zürich (CH)email: cbaroux@botinst.uzh.ch, tel: +41 (0)44 63 48250

– Prof. Dott. Miltos TsiantisDepartment of Comparative Development and Genetics,Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Köln (DE)email: tsiantis@mpipz.mpg.de tel: +49 221 5062 105