معرفی
Massimiliano Mazzone is a Full Professor at KU Leuven's Faculty of Medicine, Department of Oncology, where he serves as head of the Laboratory of Tumor Inflammation and Angiogenesis (VIB-KU Leuven) and is a member of both the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology and the KU Leuven Cancer Institute (LKI). Previously, he held a part-time full professor position at the University of Turin's Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences from 2019-2022.
Dr. Mazzone's research primarily focuses on the tumor microenvironment, with emphasis on tumor-associated macrophages, immunotherapy resistance mechanisms, cancer metabolism, angiogenesis, and tumor inflammation. His work explores how metabolic reprogramming in both tumor and immune cells affects cancer progression and response to therapy, particularly examining the role of macrophages in creating immunosuppressive environments and how to reprogram them for therapeutic benefit.
His recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on metabolic regulation of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, particularly examining how tumor-associated macrophages and T cells interact metabolically to influence immunotherapy response. Key themes include metabolic re-education of immune cells, acidosis in the tumor microenvironment, nucleotide metabolism in immunosuppression, and identifying novel metabolic targets to enhance immunotherapy efficacy across various cancer types including pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma.
Dr. Mazzone currently leads multiple research projects extending through 2029, including investigations into eicosanoid metabolism in immunotherapy resistance, synthetic lethality approaches targeting therapy-resistant cancer cells, epigenetic regulation of tumor-associated macrophages, and metabolic pathways in T cell function. His laboratory has secured significant funding for these innovative approaches to overcoming cancer treatment resistance.
As an academic supervisor, Dr. Mazzone has mentored several doctoral students including Simões Faria R.S., Pretto S., and Vanmeerbeek I., contributing to the development of next-generation cancer researchers focused on the intersection of immunology and metabolism.
