Valentina Sancisi

Role: I graduated in Biology at the University of Bologna in 2002 and I obtained my Ph.D in Cellular Biology and Physiology at the University of Bologna in 2006, with a Ph.D. Thesis in Molecular Biology. During my Ph.D.

I spent one year at the New York University Medical School (USA), where I developed a significant part of my research project focused on the functional characterization of the transcription factor SOX10.zì From 2006 to 2011 I was a post-doctoral researcher at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in the Department of Life Sciences, where I concentrated on the study of the molecular pathogenesis of Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a common hereditary myopathy.

Since 2011, I have been a senior post-doctoral researcher at the ASMN Research Hospital in Reggio Emilia, where I have worked in the Cancer Biology and Functional Genomics Unit of the Laboratory of Translational Research. In this period my research activity has been focused on the dissection of mechanisms of aggressivity in solid tumors. In particular, I worked on the characterization of the function of the pro-invasive transcription factor RUNX2 in thyroid cancer and on the study of the regulatory network upstream and downstream of RUNX2.

The major focuses of my current research work are:

1. the characterization of non-coding DNA regulatory regions (Enhancers) functionally relevant in cancer and to dissect their mechanism of action:
2. to study the involvment of long-non coding RNAs in cancer development and progression:
3. the identification and the dissection of mechanisms of resistance to anti-cancer drugs.

E-mail: sancisi.valentina@ausl.re.it

Scientific Publications