Two young researchers awarded with two fellowships at the third edition of the Call in memory of Gianni Bonadonna

For the third consecutive year the Call for international Fellowship, in memory of Gianni Bonadonna, is confirmed as a valuable support for scientific research in oncology. Fondazione Gianni Bonadonna (FGB), with the support of the Prada Group, and Fondazione AIRC are pleased to announce the winners of the third edition of the Call: Chiara Corti and Caterina Sposetti. . The two researchers will spend three years at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, part of Harvard Medical School, where they will both work on two different projects focused on breast cancer.

Chiara Corti, today in Giuseppe Curigliano’s research group at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, will work on triple-negative breast cancer in Sara Michell Tolaney’s laboratory at the Dana-Farber. Her project will study the relationships between tumor cells and immune cells within the tumor microenvironment, to investigate if and how these dynamics can impact on the response to preoperative treatment and recurrence risk. The hypothesis is that the lack of response to neoadjuvant therapy may depend on an increase in quiescent tumor cells and on the absence or reduction in proliferation of specific T-cells subtypes. The final aim is to develop a novel, integrative biomarker that, taking these elements into account, may help predict the response to therapies in patients with triple-negative breast cancer, to provide maximum clinical benefit while minimizing toxicity. Chiara Corti will also study how interactions between tumour, immune system and microenvironment can affect the risk of disease recurrence.

Caterina Sposetti moved to the Dana-Farber to join Jennifer Ligibel’s team, coming from Filippo De Braud’s and then Claudio Vernieri’s group at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto dei Tumori in Milan. Her project is focused on early breast cancer to investigate the association between HER2 receptor status (absence or low levels of expression), tumor characteristics and clinical outcomes. She will also investigate the possible correlations of these features with the metabolism of both tumor and patient, and with the possible presence of metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in plasma. In the project, overweight and obese patients will be included, in order to evaluate the possible benefits of a lifestyle intervention for weight loss. The impact of calorie restriction on the efficacy of neoadjuvant treatments and on systemic and tumor metabolism will also be explored.

This third edition of the Call for a Fellowship strengthens the commitment of Fondazione Gianni Bonadonna and Fondazione AIRC in supporting a new generation of clinician-scientists in oncology and for oncology, working on research projects that will contribute to improvements in scientific knowledge and treatment perspectives for patients.