Experimental Gastroenterology Unit

Federica Ungaro

Federica Ungaro

Email: ungaro.federica@hsr.it
Location: Dibit 1, floor S1, A1a, room 40a

Group Leader, Experimental Gastroenterology

The initial phase of my career was spent investigating the pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), a class of chronic inflammatory intestinal disorders for which the definitive cure, as well as the cause, have not been established yet. Initially, I devoted my attention to the Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA)-mediated resolution of inflammation in ulcerative colitis (UC). I achieved important results by taking advantage of lipidomics as a high-throughput approach to analyze the broad spectrum of pro-resolving lipids in the intestine, and I demonstrated the MFSD2A protein as being involved in the metabolism of PUFAs to enhance the production of pro-resolving metabolites and oversee the resolution of inflammation in colitis.

Afterward, thanks to the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) grant, I commence an important line of research regarding the contribution of eukaryotic viruses in triggering IBD.

The most recent achievement, which posed the first milestone of my scientific independence, was the publication of the IBD TaMMA framework, which provides the scientific community with a user-friendly, open-source platform for the standardized analysis of transcriptome and metatranscriptome data from patients with IBD. IBD TaMMA will effectively allow us to get substantially closer to a more holistic picture of patient-specific disease mechanisms based on data collected and generated across various research centers. It will offer an unprecedented opportunity to define new hypotheses and insights for better understanding the pathogenesis of IBD and developing personalized treatments, which could be extended to other complex diseases too.

Last but not least, my research group identified a gur virome protein as at the basis of UC pathogenesis, opening new horizons for personalized therapies in the field.