Before starting her PhD, Ana completed a Bachelor’s in Biology at the University of Oviedo, focusing on alternative splicing patterns in acute myeloid leukemia. She then pursued a Master’s in Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Bern, where her thesis explored gene transcription modulation and lactate production by hexokinase 3 in leukemia. Afterward, She worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Asturias (ISPA-FINBA), conducting bioinformatic analyses and working on adrenal gland organoids to study paraganglioma.
Rebecca obtained her master degree in “Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine” at the University of Milan. Thereafter, she worked at the IRB of Bellinzona, where she focused on the effect of gut microbiota conditioning on the antitumor response in the context of cancer immunotherapy. Specifically, how secretory IgA can condition the gut ecosystem and consequently the tumoricidal activity of CD8 T cells during immune checkpoint inhibitors therapy of solid tumors, but also how gut conditioning can be important in the correction of gastrointestinal IrAEs associated with this kind of therapy.