Dottorato in NETWORK ONCOLOGY AND PRECISION MEDICINE

email: zeinmersini.besharat@uniroma1.it
telefono: (39) 06 499 18 296

WORK EXPERIENCE
2020 – present: RTD A Researcher
2020 – present: Faculty Member of PhD in “Network Oncology and Precision Medicine”, Sapienza University of Rome
2018 – 2020: Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Siena and Sapienza University
2016 – 2018: Post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Oncogenomics, Department of Experimental Medicine

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
2016: PhD in Molecular Medicine
2013: Diploma of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Master of Engineering Communications with a focus on Biomedicine

WORK ACTIVITIES
Research projects Bioinformatics analyses using omics tools: Development of large-scale approaches for expression data analyses from different platforms -next generation sequencing and assays.
Molecular oncology: Characterization of the molecular events involved in tumorigenesis mainly focusing on solid tumors and deregulated pathways.
Hedgehog/Gli signaling pathway: Analysis of dysregulated mechanisms of the Hedgehog/Gli signaling pathway involved in neoplastic diseases.
Oncosuppressor and oncogenes: Identification of novel molecules as oncosuppressor or oncogenes.
MicroRNAs and Epigenetic regulation: Identification of epigenetic networks including microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs in tumors.
Circulating biomarkers: Analysis and discovery of circulating biomarkers (mainly microRNAs and cfDNA) in cancer.
Tumors and cancer treatments: Medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, gliomas, lung, colorectal, thyroid cancers, melanoma, chemoresistance and immunotherapy.

Awards
Winner of Minerva Research award III Edition for research on the role of microRNAs in cancer, Foundation Roma Sapienza. 01.12.2021.
Winner of Post-doctoral Fellowship Fondazione Umberto Veronesi year 2022. 26.11.2021.
Awarded the National Scientific Qualification for Associate Professor for the SC 06/A2, SSD MED/04 of the Call 2018-2020, validity: 31/05/2021 - 31/05/2030
Three-year scholarship for the completion of PhD in Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome. 2013-2016.

Collaborations
Italian: Sapienza University (Dep. of Radiological, Oncological and Pathological Science, Dep. of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, Dep. of Molecular Medicine, Dep. of Informatics, Dep. of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Dep. of Translational and Precision Medicine), Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, University of Siena
International: David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research MIT Cambridge (MA) USA, Heidelberg University Germany, University of Bern Switzerland


Editorial activity
International Scientific Board Member as Guest Editor of Special Issue “Molecular Biomarkers in Cancer and Metabolic Disease in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019 – present.
International Scientific Board Member as Guest Editor of Special Issue “Signalling pathways in Metabolic Diseases and Cancer” in Cancers. 2019 – present.

Referee of International Scientific Journals
BMC Cancer, Cancer Management and Research, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, OncoTargets and Therapy, Frontiers Cell And Developmental Biology, Diagnostics, Journal of Immunology Research, Cancers, Journal of Personalized Medicine, Biomedicines, Frontiers Pharmacology

Member of Expert Peer Reviewers for Italian Scientific Evaluation (REPRISE), Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research

Oral presentations
Montpellier (France). International LifeTime Conference, Oral presentation "Experimental disease models, Longitudinal samples and Data Integration" Genopolys, Campus Arnaud de Villeneuve, 141 Rue de la Cardonille, 34396 Montpellier cedex 5

International memberships
2019 – Present: Member of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), Member ID EACR27439 2014 – Present: Member of the European SIOP-LGG preclinical working group (preclinical working group on low grade glioma, LGG, of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology, SIOP)

Grants
“Evaluation of circulating microRNAs in medulloblastoma as prognostic biomarkers”. Sapienza University Research Grants 2019, Duration: 1 year, Principal Investigator: Besharat Zein Mersini. 3.000€.
“Circulating microRNAs and DNA (cfDNA) as novel biomarkers for diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic use in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma” AIFA, PI: Prof. Elisabetta Ferretti, 983.497,87 €. Investigator: Besharat Zein Mersini.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Researcher identifiers
Scopus Author ID: 56595254100; ORCID: 0000-0003-0317-9854; ResearcherID: A-3898-2015; Google Scholar: Besharat ZM

Complete list of publications can be found at: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=56595254100

Scientific production (first publication in 2014, reference period 2014-2022)
Total number of publications in international peer-reviewed journals: 34; Book chapters: 2

Total Impact factor (IF): 159.361 (IF publication year); 189.405 (IF 2020)
Average IF/paper: 4.68 (IF publication year); 5.57 (IF 2020)

Total Citations: 535 (Scopus), 655 (Google Scholar);
Average Citations per Product: 15.73
H-index: 14 (Scopus), 16 (Google Scholar)

Normalized H index*: 1.75
*H index divided by the academic seniority.