bio

2011 - present Lecturer, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy

2014 - present Project Leader, Extracellular vesicles and Toxins group, Urological Research Institute, Division of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy

2013 - 2014 Project leader, University of Milano-Bicocca and scientific consultant for the Department of Life Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila

2012 - 2013 Tutor of “Genetics and Developmental Biology Practical”, International MD Program, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milano, Italy

2007 - 2013 Project leader, Human Molecular Genetics Unit (later Neurogenomics Unit), IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy

2006 - 2007 Post-doc, DNA Enzymology and Molecular Virology Unit, Institute of Molecular Genetics (IGM)-CNR, Pavia, Italy and Tutor of “Genetics and laboratory of genetic methodologies”, University of Pavia, Italy

2004 PhD, Genetic and Bio-molecular Sciences, University of Milano, Italy

2002-2004 PhD student, Protein Folding and Quality Control Laboratory, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland

2001-2002 PhD student, Protein Transport and Secretion Unit, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy

2000-2001 Research fellow, Biotechnology Unit, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milano, Italy

2000 Visiting fellow, Leukemia Research Laboratory (Southampton General Hospital, UK)

2000 Singlecycle Master degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, University of Milano, Italy

LAB

The Extracellular vesicles and toxins group is focused on the study of the molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to the tumor onset and progression with the aim to develop personalized medicine approaches for unmet clinical needs through identification of new targets and understanding of disease fundamentals and heterogeneity.

Research activity

Main fields of research include:

• Characterization of molecular and functional properties of evolving cancer. We dissect the roles of lncRNAs as drivers of oncogenic functions during carcinogenesis and tumor development by regulating other non-coding elements and protein effectors.
• Development of toxin-based therapeutics for targeted treatment of tumors. We designed recombinant chimeric proteins as fusions between the plant toxin saporin and the peptides able to selectively recognize features typical of cancer cells and tumor microenvironment. Direct activity and target specificity are confirmed in vitro and translated into preclinical models.
• Development of extracellular vesicles as drug delivery systems in cancer therapy. We have developed different approaches to load vesicles with anti-tumor molecules and equip them with targeting moieties to specifically hit tumor cells.
• Identification of biomarkers to implement non-invasive monitoring of tumor progression. Through collection of liquid biopsies from cancer patients (urines in urological malignancies), we evaluate the expression of lncRNAs, as key players in the tumor development, and investigate their employment as prognostic and predictive biomarkers in the clinical setting.
• Study of the mechanisms leading to male infertility to identify defective spermatozoa and enhance fertilization success rate. By analyzing main components of the environment where spermatozoa have matured, we demonstrated that extracellular vesicles play a key role in the process of cell motility and capacitation and can distinguish healthy, fertilizing spermatozoa from defective, non-fertilizing ones.

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