Valentina Greco, PhD

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 postdoc at the Rockefeller University (2003-2009) and is currently a Professor in the Genetics, Cell Biology and Dermatology Departments, a member of the Yale Stem Cell Center and Yale Cancer Center at Yale University (2009-present) and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator (2024-present).

The goal of my laboratory is to uncover the fundamental principles that govern how tissues build, maintain, and restore themselves across a lifetime, and how these processes unravel in aging and disease. A major barrier in the mammalian stem cell field has been the inability to follow the same cells in vivo; to overcome this, my lab pioneered the use of two-photon microscopy to visualize and track stem cells within intact living tissue. Using the skin as a model, we study stem cells within their native niches, integrating epithelial cells with fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and their microenvironment, to understand how diverse cell populations coordinate in space and time to sustain function and resilience. By combining live imaging with genetic, molecular, and metabolic perturbations, we seek to define the rules of cellular cooperation that preserve tissue integrity despite constant turnover, environmental stress, and mutation accumulation. We are particularly interested in how these interactions evolve with age, why tissues such as the skin remain remarkably resistant to cancer, and how breakdowns in these systems give rise to disease. Our work has revealed unexpected principles across the skin, including epidermal coordination of wild-type responses to oncogenic neighbors, oncogenic conversion of ERK dynamics in hair follicles, fibroblast maintenance of tissue coverage by membrane extension, and endothelial plasticity that enables migration or self-repair after cell loss. By illuminating the dynamic and adaptive nature of living tissues, our goal is to redefine how we understand regeneration, aging, and cancer, and to uncover new strategies to preserve tissue health and prevent disease.

Dr. Greco has been the recipient of many awards over her career, such as being recently inducted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2025, named HHMI Investigator in 2024, elected Fellow for the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in 2024, co-awarded an European Research Council (ERC) Synergy grant in 2024 and recognized as one of "50 Scientists that Inspire" by Cell Press on its 50th Anniversary.