Alessandro Gardini

Alessandro Gardini, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Genome Regulation and Cell Signaling Program at the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute. He joined Wistar as an assistant professor in 2015 and was promoted to Associate Professor effective January 1, 2022. Born and raised in Italy, Gardini obtained his B.S./M.S. in medical biotechnology at the University of Bologna and attended graduate school of Molecular Medicine at the University of Milan. He completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Ramin Shiekhattar at the Center of Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, The Wistar Institute, and the University of Miami Medical School.

Gardini's research focuses on the epigenetic control of transcription during cell differentiation and oncogenesis. His laboratory employs a combination of genomics, proteomics, and biochemistry to investigate how basal transcriptional complexes and epigenetic modulators orchestrate gene expression in normal and tumor cells. His research spans five major areas: Enhancer Regulation During Lineage and Tissue Specification; Role of Protein Phosphatases in RNA Polymerase Pause-Release and Elongation; Integrator complex functions; Profiling Human Transcriptomes; and Role of ARID1A in Transcriptional Regulation.

His publication record demonstrates significant contributions to understanding transcriptional regulation, particularly at the intersection of RNA biology and epigenetics. His recent work has explored topics ranging from the Integrator complex's role in transcription to chromatin architecture and metabolic reprogramming in cancer. In 2024, Gardini co-organized the first Genome Regulation through RNA Conference in Cancun, Mexico, focusing on foundational RNA research at the intersection of RNA and epigenetics.

• Scholar of the Leukemia Research Foundation
• Scholar of the American Cancer Society

Gardini has established a highly collaborative scientific program, launching a Ph.D. exchange program with the University of Bologna, establishing research collaborations with the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care Health, and organizing scientific and educational venues including the GER Mini Symposium in 2017. His laboratory includes Associate Staff Scientist Sandra Deliard, Ph.D., and graduate students Kelsey Leach, Joel Lee, and Sarah Offley (UPenn-CAMB). Former trainees include Marco Trizzino, Ph.D. (now assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson University) and Elisa Barbieri, Ph.D. (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at University of Edinburgh).