2024 – Maria Rescigno

She was the first to show that dendritic cells actively participate to bacterial uptake in the gut, the existence of a gut vascular barrier that resembles the blood brain barrier and the discovery of a new vascular barrier in the choroid plexus. 

Her major field of interest is mucosal immunology, the microbiota and the development of new cancer immunotherapy strategies.

WHO IS MARIA RESCIGNO?

Maria Rescigno is full professor, vice-rector and delegate for research at Humanitas University and group leader at Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan.
She graduated in Biology in 1990 at the University of Milan. From 1991 to 1994, she worked at the University of Cambridge, UK, in the Department of Biochemistry, as a visiting scholar. From 1995 to 1999, she worked at the National Research Council of Milan where she received her PhD in Pharmacology and toxicology in 1999. From 1999 to 2001, she worked at the University of Milano-Bicocca where she specialized in Applied Biotechnology. From 2001 to 2017, she has been the director of the Dendritic cell biology and immunotherapy Unit at the Department of Experimental Oncology at the European Institute of oncology.