Nicola Manfrini received his master’s degree in Industrial Biotechnologies at the University of Milano-Bicocca in 2007 and obtained a Ph.D. in Biology at the same University in 2011. During his doctoral studies and throughout his first post-doc in the lab of Professor Maria Pia Longhese, he focused on characterizing the DNA damage checkpoint using S. cerevisiae as a model system. In this period, he won a three-year AIRC fellowship and collaborated, as a visiting scientist, with Professor Antonin Morillon at the Curie Institute in Paris, France. For his second postdoc, in 2015, he moved to the lab of Professor Stefano Biffo at the INGM Institute, shifting towards a more applied type of research, finalized at defining (1) how translation regulates cell metabolism, in both physiological and pathological contexts; (2) novel altered pathways in cancer, focusing primarily on characterizing the role of the new tumor suppressor FAM46C; and (3) the importance of novel co-factors of hACE2 for SARS-CoV-2's viral entry. He has been an Assistant Professor at the University of Milan since 2021 and started his independent career at the INGM Institute in 2022 after winning the MFAG grant from AIRC. Currently, his line of research is focused on identifying, characterizing, and evaluating the targetability of new cancer-associated genes and pathways, providing special attention to the ones modulated by the oncosuppressor complex FAM46C/FNDC3A.
Renata Grifantini obtained a master’s degree in Biological Sciences, a doctorate in Molecular and Cellular Biology, and a professional certification as a biologist. She was a researcher at ENI-Ricerche (1990–1996), working in the field of biotechnology applied to the optimization of pharmacologically active proteins with genetic engineering and structural proteomics approaches. Subsequently, she was a project leader and head of the microarray unit at Chiron Vaccines (1996–2004) (Siena, Italy) and at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics (2004–2008), carrying out research activities relating to the identification of candidate antigens for the development of vaccines against human pathologies. Next (2008–2016), she was a research director at Externautics SpA (Siena, Italy), a biotechnology company aimed at the development of new tumor markers and therapeutic targets, as well as the generation and preclinical development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. Since June 2016, she has been head of the Translational Research Laboratory at the National Institute of Molecular Genetics (Milan, Italy), and she was appointed Chief Scientific Officer and general director of CheckmAb in 2018. She focuses her activity on projects with high translational values, with the intent to push them toward preclinical development phases. She is deeply involved in the identification and validation of novel markers for cancer and autoimmune diseases, as well as novel potential targets for immunotherapy.
