Throughout her career, Dr. Elda Tagliabue has been involved in both clinical and pre-clinical research addressing the role of HER2 oncoprotein and receptors for adhesion molecules in breast cancer tumorigenesis, progression and response to therapy. She has contributed to the demonstration that trastuzumab can mediate ADCC, leading the way toward in-depth analysis of host immune system responsibility for trastuzumab efficacy. In recent years, she has demonstrated that breast carcinomas can be sub-grouped according to extracellular matrix features, paving the way for analysis of extracellular matrix significance in breast cancer progression.