Dr. Cristina Maccalli

Cristina Maccalli is a Principal Investigator at the laboratory of Immune Biological Therapy, Cancer Program, Research Department of Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar. Her research interest lies in the area of immunology, tumor immunology and immunotherapy, with the main focus on: (1) immune cell-based therapy for cancer patients; (2) functional and immunological characterization of cancer stem cells and (3) the identification of biomarkers predictive of patients’ clinical outcome and responsiveness to therapies. Cristina obtained in 1990 a master’s degree in Biological Sciences and then, in 1996, a Ph.D. in Applied Genetics at the University of Milan, Italy. She has carried out her post-doctoral research programs at the National Cancer Institute in Milan, Italy and then, at the Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA. In 2007, Cristina joined as Senior Investigator the Unit of Immuno-biotherapy of Melanoma and Solid Tumors at the San Raffaele Foundation Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. In 2013, she contributed to set up in the context of the Italian Network for Biotherapy of Tumors (NIBIT) a novel laboratory dedicated to the identification of biomarkers for cancer patients through the design of standardized and validated immune-monitoring assays. In October 2015, Cristina joined the Research Department at Sidra Medicine. Cristina is author/co-author of 67 original peer-reviewed publications and 6 chapter books.