Prof. Maria Laura Belladonna

Maria Laura Belladonna is a professor of Biology at the University of Perugia, ItalyProf. Belladonna is a biologist with a background in immunopharmacology. After graduating with honors in Drug Chemistry and Technology at the University of Perugia in 1996, she obtained her PhD degree in Experimental Medicine, discussing a thesis on the immunogenicity acquired by drug-treated tumor antigens. After her PhD, she was a research fellow under the supervision of Dr. JC Renauld at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Brussels, where she acquired significant expertise in the production of recombinant heterodimeric cytokines and the analysis of their signaling. Now, her research activity is carried out at the Pharmacology Section of the Department of Medicine and Surgery (University of Perugia, Italy). Her research field is the in vitro study of molecular mechanisms of immunogenic and tolerogenic responses, effects of tolerogenic cytokines, the tolerogenic enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), and tryptophan metabolism in murine experimental models of autoimmune diseases and tumors, tumor biomarkers derived from tryptophan metabolism in human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), the effects of plant-derived bioactive compounds in the regulation of osteoclastogenesis, and the effects of oxidative stress molecules in bone-damaging diseases. She is a member of the AIBG (Associazione Italiana di Biologia e Genetica) and SIF (Società Italiana Farmacologia) scientific societies.