Ricerc@Sapienza

Our laboratory focuses on understanding how innate immunity controls viral replication and shapes pathogenesis by influencing viral spread and tissue damage. We are particularly interested in elucidating the mechanisms that govern the induction, regulation and function of interferons (IFNs), the viral strategies employed to evade or subvert the IFN response, and how IFNs can drive protective or pathological inflammatory and cell immune responses that influence disease outcomes.

My research focuses on the interaction between innate immunity and cancer, with particular attention to NK–multiple myeloma cross-talk. I investigate how tumors modulate innate antitumor responses and exploit immunoevasion -also through extracellular vesicles-and explore strategies such as cGAS/STING activation and nanoparticle delivery to enhance immune function and improve immunotherapy.

The research activity of the lab is focused on post-natal skeletal stem cell biology and role in genetic and acquired skeletal diseases, pathogenetic mechanisms of Fibrous dysplasia of bone and other GNAS related disorders, development and analysis of transgenic mouse models and bone organoids to investigate genetic, neoplastic and infectious skeletal disorders.

The group is interested in i) analyzing the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that regulate hepatocyte differentiation and transdifferentiation (EMT) and contribute to the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma, ii) dissecting the signaling pathways that mediate cellular responses to microenvironmental stimuli (such as soluble factors and extracellular matrix stiffness) under phys