Luca Falzone
University of Catania, Italy
- Orcid: 0000-0001-7349-6826
- Publications: 43
- Citations: 1353
- Keywords: cancer; epigenetics; microRNA; DNA methylation; biomarker discovery; liquid biopsy
Short Bio
- Current position Luca Falzone is a Post-doc fellow at the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences of the University of Catania (Catania, Italy). Currently, he is collaborating with the “G. Pascale” National Cancer Institute of Naples (Naples, Italy) in the management of a clinical trial on the effects of the Mediterranean Diet and exercise in the reduction of breast cancer recurrence. He is also responsible for the management of a bio-bank of biological samples from cancer patients and normal individuals located at the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences of the University of Catania (Catania, Italy). Education and training Luca Falzone received his Bachelor's Degree in Biomedical Laboratory Techniques at the University of Catania in 2014. The following year he obtained a Master's Degree in Biomolecular Techniques in Bio-Medicine and Forensics Sciences at the University of Catania. In 2018 he received the Master of Sciences in Medical Biotechnologies at the University of Catania. In 2021, he also gained a Ph.D. in Basic & Applied Biomedical Sciences at the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences of the University of Catania (Catania, Italy). Research activities From October 2013 he attends the laboratory of Translational Oncology and Functional Genomics of the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences of the University of Catania to carry out his thesis in Biomedical Laboratory Techniques. During his internship he was involved in the characterization of gene alterations, with particular reference to t (14; 18), associated with the risk of development of onco-hematological diseases in workers exposed to pesticides. Subsequently, during his Master's degree, he studied the role of epigenetics in the development of human tumors. In particular, it has used innovative techniques aimed at determining the levels of gene methylation, exploiting both bioinformatics tools and laboratory methods on tumor cell lines and on biological samples derived from patients. Currently, his research is focused on the molecular mechanisms of tumor development and progression with particular reference to the study of cancer cells and tumor microenvironment interactions, the study of the activation of the NGA/MMP-9, and the functional role of the hyper-activation of the RAF-MAPK-ERK and PI3K-AKT signal transduction pathways. The study of these mechanisms will allow to identify new markers that can be used for new diagnosis and therapeutic strategies. More recently, he is developing computational biology skills to be used for the identification of DNA methylation hotspots and microRNAs associated with tumor development. Collaborations He is currently responsible for the management of the bio-bank associated with three case-control studies for the identification of new etiologic agents of prostate, bladder and lymphoma tumors, carried out in collaboration with the International Cancer Agency of Lyon (IARC) and with the Cancer Institutes of Aviano and Naples. From February 2016 to February 2017 he is the winner of a LILT research grant funded on the health research project entitled "Analysis of circulating microRNAs in the early diagnosis of bladder cancer". From December 2017 to date holder of a contract as project collaborator funded by the National Cancer Institute "G. Pascale" of Naples for the research activities related to the project entitled "Reduction of breast cancer recurrence in women: lifestyle strategies and microRNA expression: DEDiCa". Within this project, Luca Falzone is responsible for the research activities carried out in the laboratory of translational oncology and functional genomics of the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences of the University of Catania.
