Calcaterra joined the Clinical and Experimental Immunology Lab as under-graduate student and then worked in the Lab as PhD student and Post-Doc. In particular, Dr Calcaterra obtained in 2011 her Master’s Degree in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine at University of Milan and then in 2016 completed her Ph.D. program under the supervision of Prof Silvia Della Bella (University of Milan) developing projects aimed to characterize human endothelial progenitor cells – with a particular focus on endothelial colony-forming cell (ECFCs) – in physiological and pathological conditions.

Currently, Dr Calcaterra is a Staff Scientist at the Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Immunologyand her studies are aimed to investigate the role of endothelial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of unprovoked venous thromboembolism and anti-phospholipid syndrome-associated thrombosis through the characterization of patient-specific ECFCs. In addition, Dr Calcaterra is involved in a second line of research focused on studying the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in tumors with particular attention to DC characterization by flow cytometry and scRNA-sequencing. Recently, Dr Calcaterra has also been involved in a new research line which aims to study the innate and adaptive immunity in COVID-19 patients.

Her research activity is supported by several funding agencies, including AIRC, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, Fondazione Cariplo and Italian Ministry of Health. Dr Calcaterra has published 16 manuscripts on peer-review international journals as main or co-author and is currently member of several scientific Italian societies.