• cristina.capuano@unicamillus.org

Cristina Capuano

General Pathology - Med/04

Biography

Graduate in Biological Sciences and PhD in Immunological Sciences at Sapienza University of Rome, where she has been a Research Fellows and Researcher at the Department of Experimental Medicine.

Research interests have been aimed to characterize: a) the lipid-modifying enzyme-dependent signals in the regulation of distinct steps of Natural Killer (NK) cell cytolytic machinery activation; b) cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying NK cell-mediated immune responses induced by tumor-targeting anti-CD20 therapeutic monoclonal antibodies; c) the role of (auto)antibodies in promoting the establishment and maintenance of memory NK cell pool in vivo and in vitro; d) the impact of vaccine-induced antibodies on  Fc-mediated NK cell effector functions.

The results identified a mechanism of exhaustion of NK cell cytotoxic activity that contributes to resistance to anti-CD20-based immunotherapy; elucidated the capability of next-generation de-fucosylated monoclonal antibodies to overcome such resistance and to potentiate NK cell immunoregulatory functions and added new insights on NK cell plasticity in immunotherapeutic and post-vaccinal settings, and autoimmune disorders.

She is the author of scientific publications in indexed journals of international relevance and participated in several collaborative studies.

Since 2012, she has been the recipient of research funds obtained by different State agencies (Ateneo-Avvio alla Ricerca by Sapienza; SIR2014 by MUR) as principal investigator.

She obtained awards for scientific activity, is a member of the Italian Society of Immunology, Clinical Immunology and Allergology (SIICA) and Society of Natural Immunity (SNI), and participated in national and international scientific conferences as a speaker.

She is a member of the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Immunology (IF 7.561) as Review Editor in: a) Cytokines and Soluble Mediators in Immunity; b) NK and Innate Lymphoid Cell Biology and performed activity of referee for international journals in the Immunology field.

She taught Immunology and Immunopathology for the integrated teaching of Pathophysiological Bases of Diseases for the Degree Course in Biomedical Laboratory Techniques at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome.

Associate Professor UniCamillus.