Dario C. Altieri

Dario C. Altieri, M.D. serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Wistar Institute, Director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center (an NCI-designated facility), and Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor leading the Genome Regulation and Cell Signaling Program. His leadership spans both administrative responsibilities and active cancer research.

Born in Milan, Italy, Altieri was educated at the University of Milan School of Medicine, completed training in internal medicine, and holds a postgraduate degree in clinical and experimental hematology. His academic career includes positions at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation (1987), Yale University School of Medicine (becoming professor with tenure in 1999), and founding chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (2002). He joined The Wistar Institute in 2010 as Cancer Center Director and Chief Scientific Officer, becoming President and CEO in 2015.

Altieri's research focuses on cellular adaptation mechanisms or 'plasticity' exploited by cancer for disease progression. His laboratory investigates mitochondrial functions in cancer, including bioenergetics, reactive oxidative species buffering, inter-organelle communication with the endoplasmic reticulum, and retrograde gene expression. His work demonstrates that mitochondrial reprogramming is a universal cancer trait imparting unique plasticity to tumor responses across all disease stages. The lab has pioneered mitochondria-targeted cancer therapeutics, developing compounds like Gamitrinib that entered clinical trials (NCT04827810).

Analysis of Altieri's recent publications (2020-2024) reveals a strategic evolution from foundational work on mitochondrial dynamics in tumor cell motility toward understanding Parkin protein's role in tumor immunity and metastasis suppression. His research spans molecular mechanisms to therapeutic applications, increasingly incorporating tumor microenvironment and immune system interactions, with direct translational impact.

Altieri's laboratory team includes Research Assistant Professors Jagadish Ghosh, Ph.D. and Michela Perego, Ph.D., and Postdoctoral Fellow Minjeong Yeon, Ph.D. His research has received significant NIH funding including R35 CA220446 and R01 CA286080 grants. The laboratory employs multidisciplinary approaches spanning biochemical, cellular, and molecular techniques, xenograft and genetic animal models, and analysis of clinically-annotated patient samples.

The Altieri Laboratory operates within The Wistar Institute's NCI-designated cancer center. His team discovered and characterized the survivin gene (with over 10,500 PubMed citations), establishing it as a fundamental cancer gene and therapeutic target. Recent work on Parkin's dual role in suppressing tumor traits while activating innate immunity opens new avenues for cancer immunotherapy development.