Pier Giuseppe Pelicci

Pier Giuseppe Pelicci is Director of Research of the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan since 2015, chairman of the Department of Experimental Oncology of IEO since 1995 and full professor of general pathology at the University of Milan since 2004. He is also scientific director of the SEMM Foundation (European School of Molecular Medicine) and was president of TTFactor Srl, the technology transfer company of IEO and IFOM (FIRC Institute for Molecular Oncology). He is cofounder and scientific advisor of the biotech holding Genextra which controls five biotech companies (Congenia, DAC, Tethis, Intercept and EryDel).
At IEO, Pelicci is responsible for the strategic planning of the institute research programs, including basic, translational and clinical research.
Pelicci has made seminal contributions to the study of leukaemia (identification/functional characterization of the PML-RAR and mutated-NPM oncogenes) and to the definition of the molecular basis of its targeted treatment with retinoic acid and histone deacetylase inhibitors. He has also contributed to the elucidation of the molecular basis of aging and aging-associated diseases (Shc protein family). More recently, he has been focusing on the biological and molecular characterization of normal and cancer stem cells, on the mechanisms of DNA damage, and on relapse acquired chemoresistance in acute myeloid leukaemia, using stem-cell based preclinical and clinical models of leukaemia and breast cancer, next generation sequencing technology and RNA interference approaches. His laboratory is also studying the effects of metabolism and specific checkpoint activation on tissue homeostasis, aging and cancer risk (novel signalling pathway involving p53, p66Shc and reactive oxygen species, risk factors such as overweight and obesity). 
Pelicci is member of different national and international societies, and was honoured with a number of prestigious awards (including several international prizes). To date, Dr Pelicci has published 461 peer-reviewed manuscripts (392 original research papers and 69 invited reviews), 29 book chapter publications and he is holder of 10 granted patents. His h-index is currently 100 (Web of Knowledge database).