MELANIA CARLISI University Hospital 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 Sapienza University of Rome – 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 Sapienza University of Rome – Rome, Italy
Francesca Fazio, MD, PhD student. Department of Traslational and Precision Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome
Date of birth: 17.07.1985
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 Santo Stefano Hospital – 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 University of 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 Vita-Salute San Raffaele University – Milan, Italy
GIOVANNI SOLIMANDO University of Bari Aldo Moro – Bari, Italy
Born in Bari on 04/05/1985, he obtained his degree in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Bari on 22/07/2011 cum Laude and Committee Honor. He is currently Clinician Scientist Researcher and Assistant Professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Internal Medicine Unit “Guido Baccelli” Bari University Aldo Moro.
From October 2014 to October 2016, and from April 2018 to March 2019 he conducted a clinical and preclinical research stage at the Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Hematology at the University of Würzburg, Germany, under the guidance of Prof. Hermann Einsele and Prof. Andreas Beilhack.
On 13/06/2017 he completed his post-Graduate in Internal Medicine at the Post Graduate Residency School of in Internal Medicine of the University of Bari cum Laude, discussing the thesis entitled “Junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) as Prognostic Factor and New Therapeutic Target in Multiple Myeloma. Phenotypic and Functional Study of Bone Marrow Plasmacells and Endothelial Cells: Experimental Study on 177 Patients” under the guidance of Prof. Angelo Vacca.
On may 2020 he completed his PhD in Pharmaceutical and Medical Biomolecular sciences at the Bari University Aldo Moro, discussing the thesis “Halting JAM-A on Multiple Myeloma Plasma Cells and in the Bone Marrow Pro-Angiogenic Microenvironment Inhibits Disease Progression, Playing a Central Function in Patients with Extramedullary Disease: Study on 312 Subjects”.
In September 2016 he obtained the National Diploma in Clinical Ultrasound of the Italian Society of Ultrasonology in Medicine and Biology (SIUMB).
From May 2020 he completed his in Biomolecular Pharmacology and Medical Sciences, Biomolecular Science Curriculum in Clinical Medicine and Symptom at the Bari University Aldo Moro.
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 is a PhD candidate at Monash University (Myeloma Research Group, Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Central Clinical School, Melbourne, Australia).
Dr Antonia Reale completed her training in Medical Oncology with honors in Bari (Italy) in 2016. She has studied and collaborated for several years (since 2008) with the Myeloma Group at Internal Medicine ‘Baccelli’ and ‘Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Vascular Biology’ (Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Oncologia Umana), Bari, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Dammacco, Prof. Angelo Vacca and Prof. Roberto Ria. She has also worked as Sub Investigator and Study Coordinator for Phase I-III Trials for Multiple Myeloma Patients.
During her training she has also gained basic and translational research experience both at Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Oncologia Umana, Bari, Italy and Myeloma Research Group (Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Central Clinical School, Monash University/The Alfred, Melbourne, Australia).
She then was awarded an RTP (Australian Government Research Training Program) Scholarship and started a PhD by translational research in 2018 in Melbourne, Australia, under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Spencer. Her project involves the study of extracellular vesicles in Multiple Myeloma as potential drivers of disease progression and liquid biomarkers.
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 TOMAS 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.
FEDERICO VOZELLA – San Giovanni di Dio Hospital – Florence, Italy