MULTIPLE MYELOMA CANTERA

MELANIA CARLISI
A.O.U. Policlinico P.Giaccone – Palermo, Italy

Melania Carlisi is a M.D. and, since 2017 she works in Hematology Unit of AOUP “P. Giaccone” of Palermo. She received his PhD in Experimental Oncology and Surgery in March 2020 and she is currently involved in the clinical management of patients with multiple myeloma. The main research field is multiple myeloma, but she is also interested in other clinical research on various hematological diseases.

LORENZO CUOLLO
Università degli Studi di Roma – La Sapienza – Rome, Italy

Lorenzo Cuollo obtained his M. Sc. degree in Molecular Biology in 2018 at University of Naples “Federico II”. His master thesis work, a study of p53 dynamics at single cell level, was conducted in Prof. Alexander Löwer’s laboratory of Systems Biology at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany). Currently he is conducting his PhD course in the laboratory of Immunology and Immunopathology of Prof. Silvano Sozzani (formerly directed by Prof. Angela Santoni) at “Sapienza” University of Rome; currently he is working on possible strategies to overcome the immunosuppressive state characterizing the tumor microenvironment of multiple myeloma by targeting ectoenzymes expressed on the surface of malignant plasma cells.

FRANCESCA FAZIO
Università degli Studi di Roma – La Sapienza – Rome, Italy

Medical Degree with final grade 110/110 with honors
Winner of grant for research in the field of systemic amyloidosis promoted by the Italian Society for Amyloidosis Onlus (October 2018)
Specialization in Hematology with final grade 70/70 with honors
PhD student from November 2019 in “Innovation in immune-mediated and haematological disorders” – Sapienza University of Rome
Sub-PI of several protocols for MM patients
Clinical activity for management of MM patients – Hematology, Sapienza University of Rome

SARA GRAMMATICO
Ospedale Santo Stefano – Prato, Italy

Dr. Sara Grammatico is a hematologist that currently works in “Santo Stefano Hospital” of Prato, spending most of her activities in clinical practice for all onco-hematological patients that refer to Day Hospital, inpatient and outpatient structures. She received a Degree in Medicine and Surgery in 2007 from the University of Rome “ Sapienza”, Italy. She also obtained a specialty in Hematology in 2014 and a PhD on the efficacy of new drugs in multiple myeloma patients in 2018 from the University of Rome “ Sapienza”, Italy. Dr. Grammatico particularly focused her research on acute leukemia and multiple myeloma and she has also been involved in numerous clinical trials for multiple myeloma patients.

UROS MARKOVIC 
Università di Catania – Catania, Italy

Uros Markovic, born on 9th of April 1989 in Belgrade (Serbia), graduated at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Belgrade in June 2013 with the thesis entitled “The clinical characteristics of multiple sclerosis in children and adolescents”. Later he transferred to Turin, Italy, where he convalidated the degree in Medicine and Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Turin in March 2016 with the thesis entitled “Hemorrhagic stroke in pediatric age”. Given the high interest in hematologic area of medicine, Uros then enrolled in the School of Specialization in Hematology at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Catania, achieving the specialistic degree in Hematology in November 2020. Apart from the clinical part and patient care, he invested also in the research part of hematology, publishing several papers in international journals and presenting abstracts in national symposiums.

ENRICO MILAN
Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele – Milan, Italy

Enrico obtained his master degree in Biotechnology at Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, after an internship in the Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry Lab directed by Dr. Angela Bachi in 2009. During this experience he specialized himself in proteomics and he identified serum biomarkers able to predict patient response to EGFR inhibitor in non-small cell lung cancer (Milan et al., 2012). In 2014, he received a PhD in Molecular Medicine at Università Vita- Salute San Raffaele in the lab of Dr. Simone Cenci investigating the role of autophagy in multiple myeloma (Milan et al. 2015). During these years he characterized the functions of the autophagic receptor of ubiquitinated proteins p62/SQSTM1 in multiple myeloma through an extensive and unbiased proteomic analyses of its interactors. This opened a new line of research focused on investigating how novel p62-dependent molecular circuits impact on plasma cell proteostasis and drug sensitivity. His research activity is supported by International Myeloma Foundation (IMF Brian D. Novis Research Grant), Fondazione Cariplo (Ricerca Biomedica Condotta da Giovani Ricercatori) e Ministero della Sanità (Ricerca Giovani Ricercatori 2018). Enrico has published 12 articles in peer-reviewed journals. His work has been cited > 1300 times, with an H-index of 8 (Scopus source).

GIOVANNI SOLIMANDO
Università di Bari A.Moro – Bari, Italy

His main interests are represented by internal medicine, with particular focus on oncology, immune-lymphoproliferative and autoimmune diseases. As main topic addressed, he mastered multiple myeloma, with a focus on disease microenvironment, primary systemic amyloidosis, cryoglobulinemia and lymphomas management, as well as chronic liver disease and the relationship between viruses hepatitis, hepatocellular and pancreatic carcinoma and lymphoproliferative diseases. In this field he collaborates with an intense research program that is under development in the department in which he has been working so far. Dr. Solimando also held teaching activities at the Specialist and Triennal Course of Medicine and Surgery.
ANTONIA REALE
Monash University – Melbourne, Australia

Dr Antonia Reale has over 30 peer reviewed publications including original research articles, review articles and book chapters. Since 2009 she has presented, also as invited speaker, at several national and international conferences (oral and poster presentations) on angiogenesis, hypoxia, bone disease, neutropenia, microarray-based approaches, mechanisms of progression and resistance to proteasome inhibitors, extracellular vesicles, in Myeloma. She was awarded a prize by research in 2015 (“Premio O.M.C.e O. Bari per la Ricerca 2015”). She is a member of several Societies including The Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR), Student Network on EVs (SNEV), Società Italiana per le Vescicole Extracellulari (EVIta), International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), Italian Medical Society of Victoria (IMS-Victoria).

JOSHUA THOMAS
Rush University Medical Center – Chicago, USA

Joshua Thomas is a second year Internal Medicine Resident at Rush University Medical Center located in Chicago, IL, USA. He went to medical school at The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Multi-disciplinary Studies from The University of Oklahoma. He is currently the Chair of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Committee at Rush. His interests lie primarily in the hematological malignancies including multiple myeloma and leukemia and he looks forward to applying for a hematology-oncology fellowship in the coming years.