The Pezcoller Foundation – Casse Rurali Trentine PhD Fellowship

Thanks to the agreement between the Pezcoller Foundation and Fondo Comune Casse Rurali Trentine, from 2020 the Pezcoller Foundation supports 3-year scholarships for a PhD Candidate of the PhD Program in Biomolecular Sciences at the Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO – University of Trento) for a cancer research project. 

2023- 2026 Recipient: Fabio Mazza
with the project “Exploring the complex of interactions between somatic and germline coding variants in cancer” coordinated by Prof. Alessandro Romanel (CIBIO Department) and Prof. Gianluca Lattanzi (Physics Department, UNITN)

A growing body of research highlights how inherited genetic traits can interact with mutations in the genetic code linked to cancer. This project aims to use large amounts of genetic and genomic data from cancer patients to better understand how cancer develops and identify potential targets for early detection and targeted treatments. Our approach involves the use of advanced bioinformatics analysis and molecular simulations to assess how inherited genetic variants, in combination with cancer-related mutations, may affect protein stability and dynamics.
We want to understand how a person’s genetic makeup can help select specific cancer-related mutations, providing useful tools for identifying patients who have a higher risk of developing a more aggressive form of the disease or who might respond better to certain cancer treatments. Thus, the hope in our project is to help identify more effective strategies to prevent and treat cancer.