Istituti Fisioterapici Ospitalieri
The Regina Elena National Cancer Institute (IRE) is part of the Italian network of Scientific Institutes for Cancer Research and Treatment.
Founded in 1933, Regina Elena is one of the largest and most renowned cancer research centers in Europe. IRE’s mission is to address public health needs by providing the highest quality care, integrating scientific expertise with cutting-edge oncology technologies. The institute offers some of the most advanced research laboratories and diagnostic technologies in Europe, supporting a Preventive, Predictive, Proactive, and Participatory approach to cancer care and treatment.
At IRE’s SAFU laboratories, Giulia Piaggio’s research team focuses on the transcriptional regulation of gene expression during cell proliferation, differentiation, and transformation. Piaggio has played a key role in developing a transgenic mouse model to track physiological and pathological proliferation events through in vivo bioluminescence imaging. Her current research is centered on identifying circulating biomarkers for the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and investigating microRNA biogenesis dysregulation in cancer.
Giulia Piaggio’s team goal, in the context of the LaserBlood project, is to identify pancreatic tumor biomarkers in the blood of a genetically modified mouse model that recapitulate the development of the disease. The team is now testing the Biophotonic Nanoparticle-enabled Laser Blood Test in the blood of these mice before tumor development, at the onset of light emission and when the tumor is developed, in order to try to identify one or more proteins that can be correlated with the onset of tumor transformation. It is important to emphasize that, in this animal model, we can verify the presence not only of initial lesions but also, before the tumor itself appears, of precancerous lesions that indicate the very early onset of tumor development.
IFO’s WP leader – Giulia Piaggio
Giulia Piaggio completed her postdoctoral fellowship at EMBL in Heidelberg, in the Gene Expression Department under the supervision of Riccardo Cortese. In 1991, she joined the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute of Rome as a senior scientist, where she is still working as a team leader. She has spent several periods as a visiting scientist in the Laboratory of Molecular Growth Regulation at the NICHD, NIH.
Since her postdoc at EMBL, she has been interested in the transcriptional regulation of gene expression during cell proliferation, differentiation, and transformation. Her work led to the identification of a common mechanism of inactivation of a class of cell cycle regulatory genes during differentiation, mediated by the absence of the NF-Y transcription factor. Moreover, her studies have contributed to describing the molecular mechanisms through which mutant p53 proteins exert their gain of function. Specifically, she identified that a complex of the mutant p53 protein, the NF-Y transcription factor, and the p300 protein plays a role in regulating chromatin state and gene expression in proliferating cells and following DNA damage, with significant effects on cancer cell proliferation.
She has been involved in the development of a patented transgenic mouse model to track physiological and pathological proliferation events through bioluminescence in living animals. In addition to her studies on animal models, she is also interested in the study of comparative immune adaptations at the aberrant maternal-fetal interface and the endometrial cancer microenvironment.
As a group leader, she is directly involved in supervising her research team by providing scientific input, discussing ongoing experiments, and ensuring the timely achievement of proposed tasks. She has published 110 papers, with a total of 5,725 citations and an h-index of 43, according to Scopus. Since 1994, she has been responsible for managing the budgets of several public and private grant-funded research projects and serves as a mentor to PhD students and postdocs.
She also dedicates time to institutional activities. She is a member of the IFO-IRE Patent Committee, collaborates with Alleanza Contro il Cancro on the Eranet Transcan project, and is part of the committee for the ‘Institutional Plan for Equity in Health and Care Pathways.’ Additionally, she is a member of the working group for the extension of the ‘Institutional Gender Equality Plan.’
