Mariangela Morelli

Mariangela Morelli has always had a strong scientific interest in oncology. After graduating in Biological Sciences and obtaining a PhD in Molecular and Experimental Oncology from the University of Pisa, where she focused on molecular markers in pancreatic cancer, she specialized in Nutrition Science at the University of Milan, briefly studying the gut-brain axis in children with autism.

She joined Fondazione Pisana per la Scienza (FPS) in 2019 thanks to a scholarship from the National Order of Biologists for her work on glioblastoma (GBM), within the FPS-funded project “Optical metabolic imaging of glioblastoma patient-derived organoids”.

She also contributed to the TOSCANO project (The Omics Sciences Against Osteosarcoma), funded by the Tuscany Region, where she focused on the molecular characterization of osteosarcoma to uncover mechanisms of progression and therapeutic resistance, with the aim of advancing precision medicine approaches.

At FPS, she also helps coordinate tumor classification activities for the OPTIMUM clinical trial (Oxidative Phosphorylation Targeting in Malignant Glioma), which investigates metabolic vulnerabilities in GBM.

In 2024, she was awarded co-funding by Abiogen to study the role of vitamin D as a potential adjuvant therapy in glioblastoma.

Currently, she is part of the AIRC-funded HOPE project, led by Dr. Mazzanti, which integrates innovative strategies to improve GBM management. Mariangela focuses on functional profiling of glioblastoma using advanced techniques such as Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) and the analysis of 3D cultures and tumor tissue. The project aims to establish a multidisciplinary platform for personalized oncology, with broader applications beyond GBM.