Since I was a little girl, I’ve yearned to know the why and the how of things. Growing up, that wish became interest in understanding the complexity of life. In particular, I was fascinated by how our bodies work on a cellular and molecular level under both physiological and pathological conditions. I started working in the oncology field in 2016, during my bachelor studies at the Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro. At that time, I followed a research project about the investigation of molecular mechanisms in neoplastic and primary normal cell lines. That was when I realize how little we know about cancer and how important is working in this field. Thereafter, I moved to the University of Bologna for my master studies in Biotechnology. From March to October 2018, I joined the laboratory of Medical Oncology led by Prof. Elisa Giovannetti at the Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands. During this experience, I started working to advance our understanding of how to prevent, detect, and treat pancreatic cancer. Back in Italy, I continued to do research on pancreatic cancer through a job position at Fondazione Pisana per la Scienza in Pisa (in another lab of Prof. Elisa Giovannetti) and during my PhD studies at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies.

It started by chance during my internship in the Netherlands. During that experience, I understood the complexity and the aggressiveness of this tumour. Despite the key progresses achieved over the past decades in the prevention and treatment of many tumors, the clinical diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer remain a challenge. We are still not able to prevent and cure this cancer and more efforts are required to improve the survival of patients affected by this malignancy. For this reason, I decided to give my contribution in this field. I wish I could be one of the “fighters” that, hopefully, will win the battle against pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a lethal malignancy without effective screening modalities. Most of patients are diagnosed at late, more difficult-to-treat stages.
Recently, several studies suggested the potential association between microbiota and pancreatic carcinogenesis. However, the diagnostic implications of microbial contributions in pancreatic cancer remain unknown. Therefore, the overall aim of my research project is to investigate the presence of disease-specific alterations of microbiome in pancreatic cancer patients.

Our results may expand our current limited knowledge on the existence of bacteria in the pancreas tract and unravel their potential role as biomarkers for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The final purpose is to improve our ability to fight pancreatic cancer, defining a solid panel of innovative biomarkers for early diagnosis of this tumor.

As a part of the Italian Pancreatic Cancer Community, we are a part of a group of researchers who want to help each other to reach the same goal, improving the scientific knowledge in order to help pancreatic cancer patients. It represents a great opportunity to join stimulating discussions with experts in our field, learn new skills, and establish fruitful collaborations. By combining our expertise, we can answer bigger and more complex scientific questions!

In my spare time, I like to play the ukulele and being in the mountain hiking with my friends.