Prof. Mara Cirone received a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Rome in 1986 and a PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of Rome in 1991. In addition to studying abroad in 1991 in the Immunology Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Scripps Clinic Research Institute, La Jolla, California, he worked from 2001 to 2019 as a Researcher in the Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome. From 2019 to the present, he has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome. His research interests mainly include developing new therapeutic strategies for tumors associated with the oncogenic herpes viruses EBV and KSHV; studying the mechanisms that regulate the latency and replication of those two viruses; and exploring the role of autophagy in latency and replication.