Dr. Lorenza D' Alessandro

Dr. Lorenza D'Alessandro studied Biology at the University of Turin, in Italy. She did her Master Thesis at the Center for Cancer Research and Treatment (IRCCS) in Candiolo, Italy, where she studied the molecular mechanisms of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) induced signaling pathways and gene expression in cancer. Subsequently, she did the PhD in "systems biology" at the University of Turin, Italy, and during her study she successfully got two fellowships (American- Italian Cancer Foundation and Consorzio Italiano per le Biotecnologie) for a research stay in the laboratory of Prof. David Sabatini at the Whitehead Institute for Biochemical Research in Boston, USA. During her PhD she applied the reverse transfection method on gene traps monitoring HGF-induced gene regulation. In 2007, she moved to the division of "Systems Biology of Signal Transduction" headed by Prof. Ursula Klingmüller at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). As junior postdoc she studied the HGF-induced MAPK and PI3K signaling pathway crosstalks and feedback mechanisms during liver regeneration by combining experimental data with mathematical modeling. She then continued her work on the role of HGF during liver regeneration as senior postdoc. During this time, she has been coordinating projects involving several research groups within the Virtual Liver Network funding program.
Since April 2017 she has been appointed as equal opportunities commissioner at DKFZ with the aim to support the increase of women scientists in leading positions, increase the awareness of unconscious biases and the value of diversity. In this context, she actively collaborates with the Executive Women Initiative at DKFZ.