Silvia Picciau was born in Cagliari, Italy. She received her degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Cagliari in 2006. Silvia was admitted in the Toxicology Ph.D. program on December 2007. Silvia is doing her dissertation project in Prof. Columbano 's lab on the identification of genetic factors implicated in the susceptibility to colorectal and lung cancer.