Prof. Simone Di Franco began his academic career at the University of Palermo, earning bachelor’s (2007) and master’s (2009) degrees in biotechnologies, both with highest honors (110/110 summa cum laude). In 2010, he entered the International Ph.D. program in Immunopharmacology under Professor Giorgio Stassi, focusing on p63’s role in breast cancer progression. During his doctorate, he spent 12 months at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam with Professor Jan Paul Medema. He completed his Ph.D. in March 2014 with Doctor Europaeus certification for his thesis on colon cancer stem cells. Following his Ph.D., Prof. Di Franco held postdoctoral positions funded by Sapienza University (2014), the Italian Association for Cancer Research/AIRC (2015), and the Umberto Veronesi Foundation (2017-2018), investigating tumor microenvironment effects on colorectal and breast cancer. He was appointed Research Fellow at the University of Palermo in December 2018, promoted to Assistant Professor (MED/46) in November 2021, and recruited as Associate Professor (MEDS/26-A) in 2024. Prof. Di Franco’s research focuses on how the tumor microenvironment, particularly adipose tissue and immune regulation, influences cancer stem cells in colon and breast cancers, as well as mechanisms of acquired therapeutic resistance. His future work aims to develop innovative preclinical testing methods using tumor organoids as patient avatars and co-culture systems to establish personalized therapeutic regimens.