Elisa Oricchio (born 1979) is an Italian cancer researcher and associate professor at

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (, EPFL) is a public university, public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland". Like its sister institution E ...

. She discovered that

EphA7 Ephrin type-A receptor 7 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''EPHA7'' gene. This gene belongs to the ephrin receptor subfamily of the protein-tyrosine kinase family. EPH and EPH-related receptors have been implicated in mediating dev ...

activates the

tumor suppressor gene A tumor suppressor gene (TSG), or anti-oncogene, is a gene that regulates a cell (biology), cell during cell division and replication. If the cell grows uncontrollably, it will result in cancer. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated, it results ...

for patients with

follicular lymphoma Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a cancer that involves certain types of white blood cells known as lymphocytes. This cancer is a form of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and it originates from the uncontrolled division of specific types of B-cells ( centrocytes ...

and was awarded the Lorini Foundation Award and Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists for her discovery.

Biography

Elisa Oricchio was born in 1979 and grew up in

Cilento Cilento () is an Italian mountain range (part of the Lucan Apennines), which gives its name to a geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the province of Salerno. Is an important tourist area of southern Italy. ...

, Italy. She earned a bachelor's degree and went on to attain a master's degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

from

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

. In 2008, she earned her PhD in Medical Microbiology and Immunology from the

University of Rome Tor Vergata University of Rome Tor Vergata, also known as the University of Tor Vergata (), is a public research university located in Rome, Italy. Located in the southeastern suburb of Rome, the university combines a liberal arts tradition with emphasis on ...

. Oricchio moved to the United States almost immediately to begin her post-doctorate research at

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In her research, she identified in 2011 that tumor cells treated with pure EphA7, an anti-tumor protein, died, which was a significant discovery in a rarely researched field. Her discovery was awarded with a grant from Sloan Kettering and a Fellowship from the

Lymphoma Research Foundation Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

to make further studies of follicular lymphoma. In addition to the research funds, she received the Lorini Foundation Award on 7 May 2012 in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in New York City, the same year. In 2012, her research identified that nearly 70% of patients with follicular lymphoma have lost the EphA7 receptor and she was experimenting with methods of reintroducing the protein into the cells. Because there has been no cure success with traditional

chemotherapies Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a cura ...

, Oricchio's work has repeatedly been funded. She was awarded a second Fellowship from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and a grant from the US

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

. In 2013, she was awarded with a plaque from the town of

Vallo della Lucania Vallo della Lucania (commonly known simply as ''Vallo'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It lies in the middle of Cilento and its population is 8,680. History A settlement calle ...

in her home region of Italy for her research, which was successful in developing a mouse model. In 2014, she was hired by the

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology are two institutes of higher education in Switzerland (part of the ETH Domain): * Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Sw ...

as a researcher and to support creation of the new Swiss Cancer Center in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

at the

Lausanne University Hospital The Lausanne University Hospital (, CHUV), in Lausanne, is one of the five Teaching hospital, university hospitals in Switzerland. The Lausanne University Hospital is linked to the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne, ...

. The

Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research The Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC, ) is a not-for-profit institution founded in 1964 and located in Épalinges, Switzerland. Since 1 January 2008, it is organized into two distinct entities: * The ISREC Foundation whose ...

created an endowed chair in Translational Oncology for Oricchio and effective 1 November 2014, she became a tenured assistant professor at the

, School of Life Sciences. In September 2021, she was promoted associate professor.

Accolades

Selected publications

* * * * * * * *

References

External links

WorldCat PublicationsPubFacts Scientific Research Publications List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oricchio, Elisa 1979 births 21st-century Italian biologists 21st-century Italian scientists 21st-century women scientists Italian biologists Italian women biologists Living people Sapienza University of Rome alumni University of Rome Tor Vergata alumni Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Cancer researchers 21st-century Italian women