Giorgio Stassi (born 22 June 1965, in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

) is an Italian scientist.

Biography and his Works

The Graduation

He studied medicine at the University of Palermo and graduated in 1991. The same year, he was awarded the university prize with the special mention for the curriculum vitae and doctoral thesis. Following his approval as a specialist in

Endocrinology Endocrinology (from '' endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental event ...

in 1996.

The Post-Doctoral Work

He did his post-doctoral work at the Rangos Research Center,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

(USA) until 1998.

The return in Italy

After his return to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, he became Group Leader of the Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory at the University of Palermo. In October 10th 2003 he has his first daughter Costanza, also known as cocca. In 2009, he was awarded the 'L’Altra Italia – Vite da Premio', a prize to honor Italian scientific researchers for outstanding achievements. In 2010 years, he became a pioneer in isolating and characterizing human cancer stem cells from solid tumors and in elucidating their remarkable apoptosis resistance mediated by interleukins. Professor Stassi was Director of the Cellular and Molecular Oncology Department at the S. Maugeri Foundation, IRCCS, in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, Italy until June 2012. He has recently identified the role of certain cytokines, most importantly of IL-4, to block apoptosis in cancer cells in an autocrine fashion, i.e. the tumor cell itself provides the apoptosis-inhibitory stimulus by production of IL-4. They also described the importance of the neutralization of IL-4 in the sensitization of cancer cells and cancer stem cells to conventional chemotherapy.

Honors

Cover Issue in ''Science'', 275: 1997 Cover Issue in ''Circulation'', 98: 1998 Cover Issue in ''Blood'', 93: 1999 Cover Issue in ''Circulation Research'', 85: 1999 Cover Issue in ''FASEB Journal'' 18:2004. Cover Issue in ''Gastroenterology'' 138: 2010

Patents

* Sensitizing cells for apoptosis by selectively blocking cytokines. US2006257401 – 2006-11-16. * Method for the purification and amplification of tumoral stem cells. EP1805299 – 2007-07-11. * Sensitizing cells for apoptosis by selectively blocking cytokines. EP1592449 – 2005-11-09. * Antibody specific for Human IL-4 for Treatment of Cancer. WO2007107349 – 2007-09-27.

Research focus

# tumor sensitization by neutralizing IL-4, # regulation of apoptosis by IL-4, # characterization and sensitization to chemotherapy of colon and breast cancer stem cells, # tumorigenic and metastatic properties of cancer stem cells, # evaluation of molecular targets involved in the survival and differentiation pathways of cancer stem cells in vitro and in vivo.

Professional Societies

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including basic, clinical, and t ...

(AACR),

American Society of Clinical Oncology The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is a professional organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer. Founded in 1964 by Fred Ansfield, Harry Bisel, Herman Freckman, Arnoldus G ...

(ASCO)

Peer Reviewing

Reviewer for several journals including: Science,

Nature Medicine ''Nature Medicine'' is a monthly Peer review, peer-reviewed medical journal published by Nature Portfolio covering all aspects of medicine. It was established in 1995. The journal seeks to publish research papers that "demonstrate novel insight int ...

, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Blood, PLoS Medicine, PLoS ONE, Molecular Medicine, Clinical Cancer Research, British Journal of Cancer, Cancer Research, Oncogene, Nature, Cell Death and Differentiation, Journal of Immunology, Journal Clinical Immunology, International Journal of Cancer, Molecular Cancer Research, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, Endocrinology, Journal of Endocrinology, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, JBC, Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Ad hoc reviewer for several grants agencies including: European Commission, Medical Research Council of UK, the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), Cancer Research UK. Funding for Scientific Research of Belgium, National Research Agency of France, National Cancer Institute of France, Italian Ministry of Universities and Research, Italian Ministry of Health, Italian National Institute of Health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stassi, Giorgio Scientists from Palermo Italian oncologists 1965 births Living people