Graziella Pellegrini
Pellegrini speaks on regenerative medicine at the 2015 World Economic Forum.
BornJuly 12, 1961
Alma materUniversity of Genoa
Known forRegenerative medicine
AwardsLouis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine (2020)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Graziella Pellegrini (born July 12, 1961) is an Italian Professor of Cell Biology and the Cell Therapy Program Coordinator at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. She has developed and championed cell therapy protocols in hospitals across Italy.

Early life and education

Pellegrini was born in Genoa.[1] She studied molecular pharmacology at the University of Genoa, where she earned her PhD in 1988.[1] She continued to study chemistry and pharmacology at the University of Genoa, and completed two subsequent degrees in 1989.[1][2] Pellegrini completed extra training to become a pharmacist.[1]

Research and career

Pellegrini was appointed to the Italian National Institute for Cancer Research in 1988. She held positions at Celllife Biotechnology, the Advanced Biotechnology Center and the Veneto Eye Bank Association.[3] She is best known for her work in translational medicine, and has developed epithelial stem cell mediated cell and gene therapies.[4][5][6] She has worked with Michele de Luca for most of her academic career. In 1990 Pellegrini established the first urethral stem cell cultures for humans, which could be used to regenerate the urethra in patients with posterior hypospadias.[7]

She showed that the p63 transcription factor, a homologue of P53 that is essential for regenerative proliferation in the development of epithelial cells, can distinguish human keratinocyte cells from their transient amplifying keratinocyte analogues.[8] The identification of this marker is important in the clinical application of epithelial cultures for cell therapy.[8]

In 2006 Pellegrini was appointed as an associate professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. She leads the Center for Regenerative Medicine “Stefano Ferrari”. Pellegrini has used the epithelial stem cells for the treatment of skin disease. She first outlined the feasibility of ex vivo gene therapy of laminin-332 junctional epidermolysis bullosa in 2006.[9] This involved transplanting autologous epidermis flaps from epidermal stem cells that had been genetically corrected.[9][10] She demonstrated the first successful clinical trial to treat junctional epidermolysis bullosa.[11] For the following two years, Pellegrini and De Luca observed initial stem cell patients, when it became obvious that they could scale the technology.[3] In 2017 the epithelial stem cells were used to treat a seven-year-old boy who had lost 80% of his skin to junctional epidermolysis bullosa.[12]

In 2008 Pellegrini and De Luca co-founded the Holostem Terapie Avanzate, a biotechnology spin-out that develops advanced therapy producets that use epithelial stem cell cultures.[13] They developed a culture system that creates limbal stem cell for the regeneration of corneas, which can restore vision to patients ocular burns who are deemed incurable.[14][15] This system, Holoclar, was recognised by the European Medicines Agency in 2008, and received its approval for marketing from the European Commission in 2015.[3][16][17] Holoclar is the first stem cell based medicinal product to be approved by the European Commission.[18]

In 2020 Graziella Pellegrini and Michele De Luca, shared the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine for the development of epithelial stem cell-based regenerative therapy in patients with severe eye and skin disease. [19]

Pellegrini provides expert opinion for the World Economic Forum.[5][20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "pellegrini". www.cmr.unimore.it (in Italian). Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Prof. G. Graziella Pellegrini – SSIEM 2019". Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Interview with Graziella Pellegrini – Using stem cells to cure blindness | Eurostemcell". www.eurostemcell.org. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  4. ↑ Pellegrini, Graziella; De Luca, Michele (November 13, 2018). "Living with Keratinocytes". Stem Cell Reports. 11 (5): 1026–1033. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.10.005. ISSN 2213-6711. PMC 6235013. PMID 30428385.
  5. 1 2 "Graziella Pellegrini". World Economic Forum. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  6. ↑ Robey, Pamela Gehron; Pellegrini, Graziella; Malin Parmar; Cossu, Giulio; Aiuti, Alessandro; Luca, Michele De (July 2019). "Advances in stem cell research and therapeutic development". Nature Cell Biology. 21 (7): 801–811. doi:10.1038/s41556-019-0344-z. hdl:11380/1221486. ISSN 1476-4679. PMID 31209293. S2CID 189927407.
  7. ↑ "Making Repairs: Stem Cells and the Pressures of Translational Medicine". The Science Network. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Luca, Michele De; McKeon, Frank; Ponzin, Diego; Bondanza, Sergio; Fantozzi, Ivana; Martinelli, Enrica; Golisano, Osvaldo; Dellambra, Elena; Pellegrini, Graziella (March 13, 2001). "p63 identifies keratinocyte stem cells". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 98 (6): 3156–3161. Bibcode:2001PNAS...98.3156P. doi:10.1073/pnas.061032098. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 30623. PMID 11248048.
  9. 1 2 Luca, Michele De; Giannetti, Alberto; Magnoni, Cristina; Conti, Andrea; Capurro, Sergio; Bonini, Chiara; Provasi, Elena; Ferrari, Giuliana; Maruggi, Giulietta (2006). "Correction of junctional epidermolysis bullosa by transplantation of genetically modified epidermal stem cells". Nature Medicine. 12 (12): 1397–1402. doi:10.1038/nm1504. ISSN 1546-170X. PMID 17115047. S2CID 19141277.
  10. ↑ Pellegrini, Graziella; Traverso, Carlo E; Franzi, Adriano Tito; Zingirian, Mario; Cancedda, Ranieri; De Luca, Michele (April 5, 1997). "Long-term restoration of damaged corneal surfaces with autologous cultivated corneal epithelium". The Lancet. 349 (9057): 990–993. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(96)11188-0. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 9100626. S2CID 22177771.
  11. ↑ Cédric Blanpain; Aragona, Mariaceleste (November 2017). "Gene therapy: Transgenic stem cells replace skin". Nature. 551 (7680): 306–307. Bibcode:2017Natur.551..306A. doi:10.1038/nature24753. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 29132145.
  12. ↑ "Boy is given new skin thanks to gene therapy". ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  13. ↑ "L'azienda". Holostem Terapie Avanzate S.r.l. (in Italian). Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  14. ↑ Rama, Paolo; Matuska, Stanislav; Paganoni, Giorgio; Spinelli, Alessandra; De Luca, Michele; Pellegrini, Graziella (July 8, 2010). "Limbal Stem-Cell Therapy and Long-Term Corneal Regeneration". New England Journal of Medicine. 363 (2): 147–155. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0905955. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 20573916.
  15. ↑ "Stem Cells Return Sight to Burn-Damaged Eyes". www.medpagetoday.org. June 23, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ Pellegrini, Graziella; Lambiase, Alessandro; Macaluso, Claudio; Pocobelli, Augusto; Deng, Sophie; Cavallini, Gian Maria; Esteki, Roza; Rama, Paolo (2016). "From discovery to approval of an advanced therapy medicinal product-containing stem cells, in the EU". Regenerative Medicine. 11 (4): 407–420. doi:10.2217/rme-2015-0051. ISSN 1746-0751. PMC 5561870. PMID 27091398.
  17. ↑ "Italy leader in the regenerative medicine field with Holoclar". Pharma World. June 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Europe approves Holoclar®, the first stem cell—based medicinal product". www.chiesi.com. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Graziella PELLEGRINI | Jeantet". January 17, 2020.
  20. ↑ World Economic Forum (February 24, 2015), Regenerative Medicine | Graziella Pellegrini, retrieved July 20, 2019.
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