Dr. Eleonora Vitali obtained her PhD in Molecular and Translational Medicine at the University of Milan in 2014. In 2013, she joined the team of Prof. Lania working in the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Endocrinology at Humanitas Research Hospital. In 2016, she was awarded Post-Doctoral Fellowship by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. She is involved in educational activities, coordinating medical and biology students and she is Co-advisor of various bachelor’s and master’s degree theses at the University of Milan and Humanitas University. She attended several national and international congresses in the field of Endocrinology, also as an invited speaker and she won various prizes as a best oral and poster presentation.

Since the very beginning of her research activity (2009), at Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Policlinico, Dr. Vitali has been fascinated by Neuroendocrine tumor (NET) pathogenesis and by the mechanisms involved in determining their sensitivity to medical treatment. During her 14 years of experience in the neuroendocrinology field, she contributed to clarifying the impact of the cAMP pathway in neuroendocrine tumorigenesis and studying the human Somatostatin Receptor 2 (SST2) domains involved in internalization and signaling. Moreover, Dr. Vitali focused on the study of the role of cytoskeleton proteins (i.e. Filamin A) in determining progression and resistance to medical treatment in NETs. She contributed to defining novel therapeutic strategies to inhibit NET progression, investigating the impact of metformin. Moreover, she extended her expertise in other research fields, focusing on the potential direct impact of pituitary NET therapy on osteoblasts proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization and the study of Filamin A in other cancer cells, thanks to high levels of collaboration with other research groups. Currently, she is investigating the interplay between inflammatory cells and tumor cells in NET progression and resistance to therapy.