|
Francesca Demichelis is a computational biologist from Northern
Italy. Her
formal training is in the field of physics studying the
molecular dynamics of solid state materials, where modeling
approaches and simulation techniques are applied for the
understanding of physical phenomena. She joined the PhD
Program in Bioinformatics at the
International PhD School on Information and Communication
Technology in Trento (Italy). She developed systematic
approaches to processing and understanding data generated
through Tissue Microarray Technology. This
technology allows for the in situ evaluation of
gene and protein expression in a high throughput manner. She
developed a classification model based on a Bayesian
hierarchical approach to handle protein expression intra-tumor
heterogeneity useful for translational Tissue Microarray
studies. While at ITC-irst (Trento,
Italy 1998-2004), she was leader in the development of a
Telepathology system for surgical pathology and a Virtual Pathology
system for histological and cytological sample evaluation, as
part of a funded multi-institutional trial in Italy.
In 2004, she joined
the prostate cancer translational research laboratory of Dr.
Rubin, at the Brigham and Women-s Hospital in Boston
(Harvard Medical School). She was involved in the
development of a multigene molecular predictor of prostate
cancer progression using Tissue Microarrays protein expression
profiling, which has now been validated on
larger independent cohorts. Her interest in
prostate cancer disease progression then focused on
understanding TMPRSS2-ETS fusion
prostate cancer, integrating data generated across several
research platforms (Single Nucleotide Oligonucleotide arrays,
Illumina expression array using DASL on archival samples, and
FISH). After the initial discovery of these common gene
translocations, she was part of a team effort to characterize
the clinical and biological implications of this common
genetic event.
As part of this team
effort between the University of Michigan
and Harvard, she was a
co-recipient of the Inaugural American
Association for Cancer Research Team Science Award for the
discovery of Gene Fusion Prostate Cancer (AACR Meeting,
Annaheim
,
CA
2007).
In 2008, she became a
Faculty Member of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine and of the Institute for Computational Medicine at
the
Weill
Cornell
Medical
College
, where she is
an Institute Fellow. Her main focus is in the study of structural variants (copy number variations - CNVs) as risk factors for prostate cancer and their 'connection' with somatic alterations leading to disease progression.
Activities:
- Co-chair of the Analysis Group for Copy Number Variants within MAQC-II Program (FDA).
- Member of the Translational Research Program Committee of Pathology Department at WCMC.
- Ad hoc reviewer for NCI Special Emphasis Review Panel 2009/10 ZRG1 OTC-K (58) R.
- Ad hoc reviewer for NCI Special Emphasis Review Panel 2009/10 ZRG1 BDA-A (58) R.
- Ad hoc reviewer: Bioinformatics, BMC Bioinformatics, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, BJU International, PNAS, American Journal of Pathology, Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, International Journal of Cancer, BJ Cancer.
- Editorial Board of Diagnostic Pathology.
|
|