Eduardo Bonavita

Home Members Eduardo Bonavita

Eduardo Bonavita

Assistant Professor

General Pathology

Assistant Professor

E-mail

eduardo.bonavita@hunimed.eu

Education

2015 Ph.D. in Life and Biomolecular Sciences
The Open University, Milton Keynes UK; Affiliated Research Centre 麻豆传媒AV在线看 Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (Milan) ITALY
2009 Degree and Master in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology
University of Salerno, Fisciano, ITALY.

Advanced training courses and qualifications

2021聽鈥淓MBO Laboratory Leadership鈥� held by European Molecular Biology Organization, Germany
2021: 鈥淚nformation Security and Data Protection鈥� held by The University of Manchester, UK
2019 鈥淩esearch Integrity鈥� held by Epigeum-Oxford University Press, UK
2016聽鈥淓ssential Data Analysis Skills for Biologists鈥� held by The University of Cambridge, UK

Academic background

I obtained a master degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Salerno (Italy) in 2009 by defending a thesis on the effect of Toll-like receptor 9 agonists in modulating immune responses in lung cancer.

In 2010 I joined the laboratory of Prof. Cecilia Garlanda and Prof. Alberto Mantovani to study the inflammatory processes associated with cancer development and progression.

In 2014, I was awarded a fellowship from the Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (FIRC-AIRC). In 2015 I obtained a Ph.D. in Immunology and Life Sciences from The Open University (Milton Keynes, UK) and 麻豆传媒AV在线看 Clinical and Research Centre. During my doctoral studies, I uncovered the essential role of Pentraxin 3 and the Complement system in regulating tumor-promoting inflammation.

Moreover, I studied the properties of Interleukin-1 receptor 8 in controlling NK cell activity and I described its role as an NK cell checkpoint receptor in both viral infections and anti-tumor immunity. Notably, these discoveries were recognized by the ACTERIA-EFIS award as the best Ph.D. thesis in Immunology in Europe (2015-2018).

In 2016 I joined the group led by Dr. Santiago Zelenay at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, where I was awarded an EMBO long-term fellowship in 2016 and an EMBO advanced fellowship in 2019 to investigate the mechanisms of immune evasion in cancer driven by cyclooxygenase 2/prostaglandin E2 axis, in a project with extensive translational potential.

After more than 6 years in the UK, in 2022, thanks to the AIRC start-up program, I joined the IRCCS 麻豆传媒AV在线看 Research Hospital to lead the Cellular and Molecular Oncoimmunology Lab. My group focuses on understanding the instructive mechanisms of immune escape in cancer with the aim of designing new therapeutic strategies for patients.

Academic honors, awards and prices

2021 AIRC Start-up Grant 2021 (1 million 鈧� for 5 years) awarded by AIRC
2020聽British Association for Cancer Research travel award
2019聽EMBO Advanced Fellowship (拢79.830 for 2 years) granted by European Molecular Biology Organization
2019 鈥淜eystone Symposia Future of Science Fund scholarship鈥� travel award to attend the Keystone meeting on 鈥淚nnate and Non-Classical Immune Cells in Cancer Immunotherapy鈥�, Keystone, Colorado.
2018 Doctoral Prize in Immunology (150.000 鈧� for 3 years) awarded by ACTERIA and EFIS; Prize for best doctoral thesis in Immunology 2015-2018
2017 Award 鈥淵oung innovator-Italy 2017鈥� 鈥� MIT Technology Review Italy
2016 EMBO long-term Fellowship (拢61.048 for 2 years) granted by European Molecular Biology Organization
2016 Award 鈥淧remio Marzia Galli Kienle鈥� – SOS Foundation (Fondazione Solidarieta鈥� in Oncologia San Marco- Zingonia)
2016 Award 鈥淧remio Marisa Colbacchini鈥� – Carlo Erba Foundation and ASIS
2015 Award 鈥淧rix Galien Italy 2015鈥�
2015 NIBIT travel award to attend the 鈥淐ancer: Inflammation and Immunity鈥� meeting. Finalborgo, Italy
2015 Award for best oral presentation 鈥淏right Spark Award鈥� at the 4th European congress of immunology. Wien, Austria
2015 EFIS travel award to attend the 4th European congress of immunology. Wien, Austria
2015 Poster award 鈥�8th International Conference on Complement Therapeutics鈥�. Chania, Greece
2015 Seahorse Travel award to attend the Cell Symposia 鈥淐ancer, Inflammation and Immunity鈥� Sitges, Spain
2015 Award for best oral presentation at Word Immune Regulation Meeting 2015. Davos, Switzerland
2014 FIRC-Fellowship for Italy 2014 (75.000 鈧� for 3 years) granted by the Italian Foundation for Cancer Research
2014聽Award for best oral presentation at the Ph.D. student retreat of the Italian Society of Immunology and Allergology. Bari, Italy

Establishing the role of conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) in liver carcinogenesis

As the archetypal antigen-presenting cells, cDCs sense microenvironmental signals and recognize pathogens, which activates various effector functions from cytotoxic lymphocyte activation to tolerance. Among the cDCs, type 1 conventional DCs (cDC1) are essential for cross-priming tumor-specific lymphocytes and in response to anti-cancer immunotherapy. By conducting a comprehensive cellular and molecular profile of the immune compartment in different syngeneic tumor models, including liver cancer, we observed the presence of transcriptionally distinct cDC states. Based on this observation, we hypothesize that cDCs can acquire unique phenotypes that can either support or regulate anti-tumor immune responses within tumour tissues.

Analysis of systemic inflammatory responses in liver cancer and human validation

Cancer is a complex and multifactorial disease that continually evolves during progression and treatment. To comprehend how the local inflammatory response and systemic immune changes interact, we are investigating the transcriptional changes occurring within the leukocyte compartment at the single-cell level during liver cancer progression and treatment. Finally, we are working to implement an innovative patient-derived tumor explant platform that replicates the complexity of human tumor architecture to assess the implications of our preclinical work in human settings.

Bonavita E, Bromley CP, Jonsson G, Pelly VS, Sahoo S, Walwyn-Brown K, Mensurado S, Moeini A, Flanagan E, Bell CR, Chiang SC, Chikkanna-Gowda CP, Rogers N, Silva-Santos B, Jaillon S, Mantovani A, Reis E Sousa C, Guerra N, Davis DM, Zelenay S. Antagonistic Inflammatory Phenotypes Dictate Tumor Fate and Response to Immune Checkpoint Blockade. Immunity. 2020 Dec 15;53(6):1215-1229.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2020.10.020.
Bo虉ttcher JP, Bonavita E, Chakravarty P, Blees H, Cabeza-Cabrerizo M, Stefano Sammicheli S, Rogers NC, Sahai E, Zelenay S, and Reis e Sousa C. NK cells stimulate recruitment of cDC1 into the tumor microenvironment promoting cancer immune control. Cell 2018
Bonavita E, Pelly V S and Zelenay S. Resolving the dark side of therapy-driven cancer cell death. J Exp Med 2018 doi:10.1084/jem.20172044
Molgora M*, Bonavita E*, Ponzetta A, Riva F, Barbagallo M, Jaillon S, Popovic虂 B, Bernardini G, Magrini E, 鈥℅ianni F, Zelenay S, Jonjic虂 S, Santoni S, Garlanda C, Mantovani A. IL-1R8 is a checkpoint in NK cells regulating anti- tumor and anti-viral activity. Nature 2017 doi: 10.1038/nature24293 *Co-First Author
Bonavita E, Gentile S, Rubino M, Maina V, Papait R, Kunderfranco P, Greco C, Feruglio F, Molgora M, Laface I, Tartari S, Doni A, Pasqualini F, Barbati E, Basso G, Galdiero M R, Nebuloni M, Roncalli M, Colombo P, Laghi L, Lambris J D, Jaillon S, Garlanda C, Mantovani A. PTX3 is an extrinsic oncosuppressor regulating complement-dependent inflammation in cancer. Cell 2015. 160(4):700-14.