Confirmed Speakers

Michele De Palma, Institut Suisse de Recherche Experimentale sur le Cancer (ISREC), Switzerland

Michele De Palma (Turin, Italy, 1973) obtained his Ph.D. in 2004 at the University of Turin Medical School, Italy, where he developed with Dr. Naldini novel genetic vectors and transgenic mouse models to study the contribution of bone marrow-derived cells to tumor angiogenesis. He described a macrophage subset that promotes angiogenesis in tumors and regenerating tissues, the Tie2-expressing macrophages (TEMs). He then moved to the San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (TIGET) in Milan to continue his studies on the interplay between macrophages and tumor angiogenesis, and to explore the potential of monocyte-based delivery of biotherapeutics to tumors. After a brief visit to Lisa Coussens’ lab in San Francisco, in 2008 he was appointed group leader at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute, where he focused his studies on the biological role and therapeutic relevance of ANG2, a TIE2 ligand, in mouse models of cancer. In 2011, he was appointed Assistant Professor at The Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), School of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. In addition to several international awards from the American and European Societies of Gene and Cell Therapy, in 2009 he was awarded a European Research Council 5-year grant. He is routinely invited to international conferences on the topics of angiogenesis and inflammation and cancer.

Selected publications (out of 36 in peer-reviewed international journals)

Squadrito, M. L., Pucci, F., Magri, L., Moi, D., Gilfillan, G. D., Ranghetti, A., Casazza, A., Mazzone, M., Lyle, R., Naldini, L., and De Palma, M.
miR-511-3p modulates genetic programs of tumor-associated macrophages.
Cell Reports. 2012 Feb 23;1(2):141-154.

Mazzieri, R., Pucci, F., Moi, D., Zonari, E., Ranghetti, A., Berti, A., Politi, L.S., Gentner, B., Brown, J., Naldini, L., and De Palma, M.
Targeting the Angiopoietin-2/TIE2 axis Inhibits Tumor Progression and Metastasis by Impairing Angiogenesis and Disabling Rebounds of Proangiogenic Myeloid Cells.
Cancer Cell. 2011 Apr 12;19(4):512-26. Quoted 12 times.

Pucci, F., Venneri, M. A., Biziato, D., Nonis, A., Moi, D., Sica, A., Di Serio, C., Naldini, L., and De Palma, M.
A distinguishing gene signature shared by tumor-infiltrating Tie2-expressing monocytes (TEMs), blood "resident" monocytes and embryonic macrophages suggests common functions and developmental relationships.
Blood. 2009 Jul 23;114(4):901-14. Quoted 54 times.

De Palma, M.*, Mazzieri, R., Politi, L. S., Pucci, F., Zonari, E., Mazzoleni, S., Sitia, G., Moi, D., Venneri, M. A., Indraccolo, S., Falini, A., Guidotti, L. G., Galli, R., and Naldini, L.*
Tumor-targeted Interferon-α Delivery by Tie2-Expressing Monocytes Inhibits Tumor Growth and Metastasis.
Cancer Cell, 2008 Oct 7;14(4):299-311. Quoted 62 times. *: corresponding author.

De Palma, M., Venneri, M. A., Galli, R., Sergi Sergi, L., Politi, L. S., Sampaolesi, M., and Naldini, L.
Tie2 Identifies a Hematopoietic Lineage of Pro-Angiogenic Monocytes Required for Tumor Vessel Formation and a Mesenchymal Population of Pericyte Progenitors.
Cancer Cell. 2005 Sep; 8(3):211-26. Quoted 380 times.

De Palma, M., Venneri, M. A., Roca, C., and Naldini, L.
Targeting Exogenous Genes to Tumor Angiogenesis by Transplantation of Genetically Modified Hematopoietic Stem Cells.
Nat Med. 2003 Jun;9(6):789-95. Quoted 285 times.

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