Gianna Fiduccia Follows in Her Family's Footsteps

Gianna Fiduccia didn’t know much about Georgia Tech when deciding where to go to college, but with an affinity for STEM and two generations of chemical engineers in her family, she instantly felt a connection to the Institute during her first visit in 2021.   

Fiduccia’s grandmother, Edita Asuncion, immigrated to the United States 50 years ago from the Philippines before becoming one of the few female chemical engineering students at her university and entering the field as a large-scale manufacturer of chemical products. Fiduccia’s mother, Deanna, also became an engineer, specializing in the production of commercial cosmetic products.   

She watched as her role models made their mark in a male-dominated field and wanted to follow in their footsteps.    

“They paved the way for me and other women. A lot of young adults choose their career paths based on influence, and so, having two amazing female chemical engineers in my life showed me that the doors were wide open for any opportunity I wanted to pursue. I recognized how special and unique that privilege was and decided to pursue a challenging, meaningful career path because of it,” Fiduccia said.   

In high school, she became interested in pharmaceutical research before choosing to study chemical and biomolecular engineering at Georgia Tech. As a student and while completing internships with Moderna and Merck, Fiduccia always felt she “had a seat at the table” because of women like her mother and grandmother.   

Eager to explore new biotechnology research on campus, she joined Mark Prausnitz’s lab to assist with developing an mRNA-lipid nanoparticle microneedle patch for vaccine delivery. The project, which could assist in the ease of drug delivery and accessibility, is one that Fiduccia says led her to pursue a Ph.D.   

“My time at Georgia Tech has shown me how creative science can be and how to take something you’re curious about, like a new drug-delivery system, and explore it without limitation. I decided to do a Ph.D. because of this freedom of exploration and a deep understanding that early-stage research could one day influence the future of healthcare,” she said.   

Fiduccia will attend the University of Pennsylvania for her doctorate, but having attended a small, all-girls high school in her hometown of Yardley, Pennsylvania, she said that meeting people from all over the world has been among the most rewarding aspects of her Georgia Tech experience.    

Outside of the classroom, she was a member of Miracle, a student-run nonprofit raising funds for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.   

With her family as her guide, Fiduccia identified a goal to become an engineer. As she completes her undergraduate degree here, she’ll mark a major milestone on her path toward using her dream “for the betterment of society.”