PAULA GRAGERA

PhD Student

PhD program:: XXXVII
email: paula.grageraalvarez@opbg.net
phone: +390668592652
building: Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Viale di S. Paolo 15, 00146 Rome, Italy
room: Immuno-Oncology Laboratory

supervisor: Dott.ssa Doriana Fruci
co-supervisor: Prof. Raffaele StrippolI

Research: ERAP1 modulation as an innovative strategy for cancer treatment

ERAP1 modulation as an innovative strategy for cancer treatment

Oncoimmunology
BIO/13 BIOLOGIA APPLICATA

Paula holds a Bachelor of Sciences in biomedical sciences by University of Sevilla in Spain (2014-2018). As a part of her bachelor’s thesis, she participated in a research project in the Laboratory of Advanced Therapies and Biomarkers at Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (Sevilla, Spain). Afterwards, she spent 6 months in Brodnica (Poland) participating in a European Voluntary Service. Between 2019 and 2021, she completed her Master of Sciences in Translational Immunology and Biotherapies at Sorbonne University (Paris, France). She participated in two different research projects in the Laboratory of Molecular Dynamics of the Immune Response at Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) as a part of the Erasmus+/4EU+ Alliance program, and in the Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology at Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers (Paris, France).

Her PhD project focuses on understanding the role of ERAP1 aminopeptidase in the tumour immune microenvironment of cold and hot mouse models, and how its modulation can be exploited to make tumors more responsive to immunotherapy. Specifically, the immunopeptidome and tumor immune microenvironment will be studied in ERAP1 genetically (CRISPR/Cas9) or pharmacologically inhibited neuroblastoma and melanoma using different technological approaches.

Paula forms part of the CAPSTONE-ETN project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 954992.

Congress participation:
- SIICA-SYIS Joint Symposium: Multi-omics approaches in immunological research. 3rd and 4th November 2023. Oral presentation
- 1st HSII/HCTI Symposium: Latest Trends in Infection and Immunity. 15th and 16th of November 2023. Poster presentation

Research products

11573/1724624 - 2024 - Combining ERAP1 silencing and entinostat therapy to overcome resistance to cancer immunotherapy in neuroblastoma

Tempora, P.; D'amico, S.; Gragera, P.; Damiani, V.; Krol, K.; Scaldaferri, V.; Pandey, K.; Chung, S.; Lucarini, V.; Giorda, E.; Scarsella, M.; Volpe, G.; Pezzullo, M.; De Stefanis, C.; D'oria, V.; De Angelis, L.; Giovannoni, R.; De Ioris, M. A.; Melaiu, O.; Purcell, A. W.; Locatelli, F.; Fruci, D. - 01a Articolo in rivista

paper: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH (London : BioMed Central) pp. 1-18 - issn: 1756-9966 - wos: WOS:001340314400001 (0) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85207170943 (0)

11573/1690017 - 2023 - Two bullets in the gun: combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy to defeat neuroblastoma by targeting adrenergic-mesenchymal plasticity

D’Amico, Silvia; Tempora, Patrizia; Gragera, Paula; Król, Kamila; Melaiu, Ombretta; De Ioris, Maria Antonietta; Locatelli, Franco; Fruci, Doriana - 01g Articolo di rassegna (Review)

paper: FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY (Lausanne : Frontiers Research Foundation, 2010-) pp. 1-8 - issn: 1664-3224 - wos: WOS:001082251100001 (1) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85174300302 (1)