Liquid biopsy; Mutational Status of circulating free DNA; Prognostic and predictive exosome miRNA signature.

PhD winner of a grant supported by the Italian Ministry of Health. I coordinate a team of young researchers deployed to identify the risk of multiple cancers. Main topics: lung cancers, mesothelioma, breast tumors. Liquid biopsy (circulating free DNA, miRNA exosome).Research Projects: - Set-up of workflows for NGS (whole exome and targeted sequencing approaches) to screen critical samples (e.g. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded and circulating free DNA). - Study of the mutational landscape of lung cancers to identify novel targetable mutations for personalizing the therapy.- Analyses of the tumor mutational modification in real time during treatment by screening of the liquid biopsy. Technologies: Next generation of Sequencing (Ion PGM System, Thermo Fisher; HiSeq 2500, Illumina), digital droplet PCR (Bio-Rad), Microarray (Agilent Platform).Writer of scientific papers, applicant for grants, partecipant to peer review processes.

Main topics of studies: lung cancers, mesothelioma. Preclinical Project:- Understanding of the action and resistance mechanisms of drugs such as reversible and irreversible inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor.- Identification of miRNA signature in mesothelioma patients who did not undergo tumor resection. Technologies: Next generation sequencing (Ion PGM system, Thermo Fisher), quantitative PCR, microarray (Agilent platform).Writer of scientific papers, applicant for grants.

Main Topics: childhood peripheral and central nervous system tumors such as neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma.Preclinical studies:- Identification of genome abnormalities and gene expression and methylation profiling to better classify the patients with pediatric peripheral and central nervous system tumors. I established a cooperation with a German laboratory, where I also spent a short period, providing a complete datasets containing the most frequent genome alterations as well as the expression profiles obtained from more than 100 metastatic patients affected by Neuroblastoma.Technologies: microarray technology applied on genome-wide, trascriptome and DNA methylation (Agilent Platform), quantitative PCR, sequencing. Writer of scientific papers, applicant for grants.

Comitato Regionale Piemontese Gigi Ghirotti Fellowship.Main topics: Myelodysplastic syndromes and leukemia.Clincial Projects:- Application of flow cytometry in leukaemia and lymphomas immunophenotyping, in monitoring minime residual haematologic disease and in identification lymphocyte subsets in patients with HIV infections;-Study of surface antigen by cytofluorimetry as a prognostic markers in patient with Myelodysplastic syndromes; Technology: Multicolor flow cytometry.

Main Topics: childhood peripheral and central nervous systems tumors such as neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma.Clinical and Preclinical projects:- Study of prognostic factors as MYCN amplification, chromosome 1p36 deletion and gain of chromosome 17q in patients with Neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma; - Study of histological heterogeneity in Neuroblastic Tumors by using Laser Capture Microdissection;-Study of desmoplastic medulloblastoma by Laser Capture Microdissection, to isolate two components and analyzing them separately by integration of arrayCGH and gene expression profile. Technologies: molecular/cytogenetic approaches ( PCR, microsattellite analysis, Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization, Dot blot, Southern blot and CGH) and related protocols including acid nucleics isolation (DNA/RNA) and quality control. Laser Capture microdissection (Leica microsystems).