Please welcome Lorenzo Galluzzi, Ph.D.
We are very pleased to introduce the newest member of the Englander Institute for Precision Medicine (EIPM) team! Lorenzo Galluzzi, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology in Radiation Oncology with the Department of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Galluzzi is also an Honorary Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, Honorary Associate Professor with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris, a Faculty Member with the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology of the University of Ferrara, the Graduate School of Pharmacological Sciences at the University of Padova in Italy, and the Graduate School of Network Oncology and Precision Medicine of the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” Prior to joining the EIPM and Weill Cornell Medical College Dr. Galluzzi was a Junior Scientist of the Research Team “Apoptosis, Cancer and Immunity” at the Cordeliers Research Center in Paris from 2012-2016.
Dr. Galluzzi received his Ph.D. from the University Paris Sud, and did his post-doctoral training at the Gustave Roussy Comprehensive Cancer Center in France. He is also Associate Director of the European Academy for Tumor Immunology, and Founding Member of the European Research Institute for Integrated Cellular Pathology.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Galluzzi join our team at the Englander Institute,” said EIPM Director Olivier Elemento, Ph.D. “His work on the stress-responsive mechanisms of adaptation in malignant cells is very innovative and well-respected, and we hope it will lead to new collaborations that advance science across the EIPM and at WCM more broadly. Lorenzo will be a strong addition to our expanding team, and I look forward to introducing him to our staff as soon as he gets settled in New York.”
We hope you enjoy learning more about Dr. Galluzzi and his research interests.
Welcome to the EIPM, can you tell our readers about your research interests and recent publications?
Chicago, IL, AACR 2018 – Lorenzo Galluzzi speaker @ AACR 2018 in Chicago. Photo by © AACR/Vera LaMarche 2018
The current interest of our team is to elucidate the links between cellular pathways of response to stress, including but not limited to autophagy, cellular senescence and multiple variants of regulated cell death, and the preservation of organismal homeostasis, with a particular focus on anticancer immunity. More specifically, we are interested in dissecting the complexity of the tumor microenvironment with respect to the mechanisms through which malignant as well as non-malignant components of the tumor exposed to chemotherapy, radiation therapy and immunotherapy emit danger signals that are involved in the initiation and perpetuation of robust immune responses. The detailed characterization of these molecular and cellular circuitries may identify stress-responsive mechanisms of adaptation in malignant and non-malignant cells as novel targets for the pharmacological manipulation of anticancer immune responses.
Ultimately, these findings may translate into novel clinical studies based on combinatorial therapeutic regimens aimed at maximizing immunostimulation within the tumor microenvironment. Most recently, we have delineated a molecular mechanism whereby autophagy and apoptotic caspases inhibit the secretion of type 1 interferon by irradiated cancer cells, de facto limiting their ability to initiate therapeutically relevant anticancer immune responses.
You have published a very substantial amount of research and were recently recognized as a “Highly Cited Researcher,” by the Web of Science Group. Can you tell our readers about your publications?
I’m perhaps best known for major experimental and conceptual contributions to the fields of cell death, autophagy, tumor metabolism and tumor immunology. In particular, I provided insights into the links between adaptive stress responses in cancer cells and the activation of a clinically relevant tumor-targeting immune response in the context of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. I’ve published more than 440 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals.
In addition to your publications, you’re also a well-known editor. Can you tell our readers about those responsibilities?
I’m currently Editor-in-Chief of three journals: ImmunoOncology, which I co-founded in 2011; International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology; and Molecular and Cellular Oncology, which I also co-founded in 2013. In addition, I currently serve as Founding Editor for Microbial Cell and Cell Stress, Associate Editor for Cell Death and Disease and Aging, Section Editor for Cells, and Guest Editor for Methods in Enzymology and Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science.
What excites you about your work?
I’m most excited about the possibility of making paradigm-shifting discovery.
When thinking about your research, what are some of the recent breakthroughs that are propelling the field forward and how will they impact healthcare and patient care in the future?
The realization that many enzymes largely considered as essential for apoptotic cell death in fact are dispensable for cell death to happen, but control how quickly it happens and what are its immunological manifestations. This discovery may lead to the repurposing of drugs previously employed for cytoprotection to cancer therapy.
What are the short-term challenges that your scientific field is facing?
There is a robust misconception on the role of multiple cell death regulators in the actual occurrence of cell death, as opposed to its kinetics and immunological manifestations.
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