ALESSANDRA VACCA

Current Position
Full Professor of General Pathology in the Department of Experimental Medicine – Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

Education And Previous Appointments
2011-today: Full Professor, Department of Experimental Medicine, I Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rome La Sapienza.
2001-2010: Full Professor, Department of Experimental Medicine, I Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome La Sapienza.
2001: Researcher, Department of Experimental Medicine and Pathology, I Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome La Sapienza.
1988: Research fellow at the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, (New Haven, CT, USA).
1985-1986: Research fellow at the Department of Endocrinology and Reproduction, Hopital Necker, Université Paris IV, Paris.
1982-1985: Winner of a fellowship for Residency in General Pathology granted by the Ministry of Education
1986: Resident in General Pathology, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.
1982: Degree in Biological Sciences, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.

Scientific Activity
Research fields
A) Molecular mechanisms of differentiation and tumour progression of neoplastic cells (neuroblastoma) and non-neoplastic cells of neural crest origin.
- Identification, isolation and molecular and functional characterization of differentially expressed genes using techniques of Differential Display in the thymic stroma cells derived from the neural crest: study of the role of nuclear proteins HMGI - C and HMGI
(Y) in the sensitivity of retinoic acid neuroblastoma cells.
-Study of the role of metalloproteinase - 9 (MMP9) of the extracellular matrix in the invasiveness control of neuroblastoma cells and molecular aspects of transcriptional regulation.
B) Activation mechanisms of immune response to tumors
-Study of molecular and cellular aspects of thymocyte differentiation: in vivo and in vitro study of the role of transcription factors and / or transduction involved in the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative diseases in murine models.
C) Analysis of Notch1, Notch2 and microRNA networks in pediatric brain tumors.
- Study of networks between Notch1, Notch2 and microRNAs and their role in the proliferation of tumor cells and invasiveness of the tumour.