Post by CeMM

We were pleased to start the week by welcoming Francesco Boccellato from the Ludwig Cancer Research to CeMM for a new Impromptu Seminar, hosted by Adjunct PI Georg Busslinger (Medical University of Vienna). In his lecture, “Gastrointestinal epithelial barrier homeostasis and response to infections and irritations,” Boccellato discussed how the gastrointestinal mucosa maintains its protective epithelial barrier and how pathogens can disrupt this balance, potentially leading to chronic inflammation and increased cancer risk. He presented innovative experimental systems developed in his lab, including regenerated organoids and “mucosoids”, a human multi-lineage stem-cell–based in-vitro equivalent of the human mucosa. These models allow the team to study epithelial homeostasis and host responses to bacterial infections and irritations. Boccellato’s research focuses on understanding the impact of pathogens in causing cancer. He completed his PhD at Sapienza University of Rome and later moved to Berlin for a postdoctoral position at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, where he developed the mucosoid culture system to better study the impact of infection on healthy epithelia. In 2019, he established his independent research group at the University of Oxford within the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Thank you, Francesco, for an engaging and insightful seminar on epithelial biology, infection, and innovative model systems that help uncover how pathogens shape human disease. 📸 Barbara Bachmann / CeMM #HostPathogenInteractions #Organoids #CancerResearch