Omics Sciences

Computational Cancer Immunotherapy Lab

team-item

Area Coordinator

Chiara Balestrieri

MORE

Our research is centered on understanding the molecular mechanisms driving cancer progression, with a particular emphasis on transcriptional regulation, the tumor microenvironment, and immune evasion. We focus on several cancer types, particularly colorectal, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers, and integrate multi-omics data - including genomics, molecular profiling, proteomics, and spatial analysis - to uncover the mechanisms that allow cancer cells to evade immune surveillance and drive metastatic progression.

Through extensive collaboration with internal and international research teams, as well as clinical units, our goal is to transform clinically-driven hypotheses into innovative diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions, applying them directly to real-world challenges and ultimately improving outcomes for cancer patients.

Research activity

Our research interests focus on various aspects of cancer and metastasis, the tumor microenvironment, and spatial heterogeneity. Currently, the principal areas of our research include:

  1. Spatial Heterogeneity of the Tumor Microenvironment: Each cancer is characterized by a unique pattern of genomic alterations that drive the tumorigenic process. These alterations tend to be specific to the cancer type and are generally conserved between primary and metastatic lesions. However, it is clear that other factors, such as immune system evasion, also play critical roles in tumor development and metastasis. In this context, we are conducting high-resolution tumor and immune cell profiling of liver metastases from colorectal and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas. This includes the use of high-resolution spatial omics sequencing to comprehensively analyze the immunological landscapes in the tumor microenvironment. This study is part of the Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro 5 per Mille project: “Advanced Immune Gene and Cell Therapies for Liver Metastases”.
  2. Omics Technologies in TCR and CAR T Cell Research: Our multi-omics studies provide a comprehensive understanding of the biological processes involved in immune cells functionality, advancing the development of more effective and personalized cancer immunotherapies. Omics techniques are employed to investigate cellular heterogeneity and molecular signatures, contributing to gain deeper insights into T cell receptor (TCR) and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell research. We are directly involved in the in-depth characterization of these cellular products, with Chiara Bonini’s lab leading Adoptive T cell therapy studies, Eliana Ruggiero’s Team active on TCR studies and Monica Casucci’s lab focusing on CAR T cell research. Our role is to support and enhance these projects through detailed omics analyses.
  3. Immunogenomic Cancer Treatment Response: We aim to unravel cancer response to treatment. Cancer cells coexist in various transcriptional states in relation to treatment. Our goal is to define the mechanisms maintaining these states and discover therapies that disrupt these thriving communities. We use bulk and single-cell transcriptomic and spatial proteomic technologies.