Maria De Angioletti 

After the B.Sc. (Laurea in Biologia) and the Board certification in Pathology (Scuola di Specializzazione in Patologia Generale) at the University of Naples, Maria De Angioletti was at the IGB-CNR of Naples, where she has studied the molecular basis of inherited anemias and the molecular epidemiology of thalassemias. Specifically, she has identified and characterized at functional level rare and new hemoglobin mutants and she has focused on the phenotype-genotype correlation and on the molecular basis of phenotypic variability. Her interest in human diseases brought her at the Human Genetics Department of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA), where she has investigated the retrovirally-mediated gene transfer in primitive hematopoietic stem cells obtaining the first successful transfer of the glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase gene in various animal models (mouse, macaque and human xenograft in immune-deficient mice). In addition, Dr. De Angioletti provided novel data about the risk of mutation in a retrovirally transferred transgene. Since 2001, she is Researcher at CNR. At that time, she expanded her interest to clonal disorders and to the role of individual genetic variability in the predisposition, the prognosis and the therapy outcome of various diseases. She has investigated the role of polymorphic genetic variants: CTLA4 and systemic sclerosis, P450 family genes and breast cancer endocrine therapy, UGT1A family gene and irinotecan therapy. In 2007 she moved to the ICCOM-CNR Institute (Sesto Fiorentino) and she became a Guest Group Leader at the Core Research Laboratory of Istituto Toscano Tumori (Florence). She has focused her research on the investigation of the role of ETS transcription factors in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. Specifically, she is investigating the ETS transcription factor ETV4: (i) its role in proliferation and in the epithelial mesenchymal transition; (ii) the identification of its downstream targets; (iii) its interaction with the PTEN loss. Finally, she is working on the molecular basis of prostate cancer cell survival within the bone microenvironment.