NextGen Omics & Spatial Biology

Dr. Sammy Ferri-Borgogno is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. During her doctoral training at the University of Turin, Dr. Ferri-Borgogno studied how cancer biology, -omics technologies and immunology might be integrated to understand host-tumor responses and identify new diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for solid tumors. Dr. Ferri-Borgogno started her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Anirban Maitra in the Department of Translational Molecular Pathology at MD Anderson, with the goal to develop and expand her passionate interest in cancer biology as well as explore a more translational research approach. Her willing to explore new fields and to expand her research knowledge in cancer biology, made Dr. Ferri-Borgogno to join the laboratory of Dr. Samuel Mok. As a senior post-doctoral fellow in the lab she had primary responsibility for all research initiatives and projects related to clarify the molecular/cellular interactions existing between stromal cells and cancer immunity to identify markers in the ovarian tumor microenvironment that can simultaneously normalize aberrant angiogenesis and increase tumor immune cell activation and infiltration, thus resulting in significant treatment outcomes. As an Assistant Professor, Dr. Ferri-Borgogno is currently applying cutting-edge technologies such as Spatial Transcriptomics (ST), multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF), mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) to characterize the ovarian cancer tumor microenvironment in 2D and 3D with the final goal to identify spatial biomarkers associated with chemoresistance as well as new targets and agents for the treatment of ovarian cancer.