Alumni Impact

As an educational institution, working to nurture a brighter and more equitable future, it is the former students of ICGEB that represent the measure of its achievements and training programmes that have been operating for over three decades.

Last July, the sixth edition of the Arturo Falaschi "DNA Tumour Virus" meeting was held in Trieste, with more than 200 scientists presenting the latest findings in DNA Tumour viruses and their associated cancers.

The meeting is an annual event hosted on rotation in the USA, Canada, the UK, and Italy. Historically, some of the major molecular and viral biology breakthroughs were first presented at the conference, including the discovery of RNA splicing.

This year's event brought together twenty alumni of the Tumour Virology lab in Trieste, headed by ICGEB Director-General, Dr. Lawrence Banks. The majority of these have continued to research Human PapillomaVirus (HPV) infections and cancer development as independent Professors or Principal Investigators in research institutes across the world.

Dr. Vjekoslav Tomaić is a senior research associate at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, the largest Croatian multidisciplinary scientific research centre. He studies pathogenesis of HPV infections with a focus on epigenetics and the role of E6 and E7 oncogenes in triggering the development of HPV-associated diseases. Dr. Tomaić laboratory also maintains the Croatian bank of nucleic acids from HPV-associated cancer lesions.

"It's been a great conference", comments Prof. Martina Bergant Marušič, from the University of Nova Gorica and Member of the Commission for GMO Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (Slovenia). Since leaving the ICGEB in 2014, Prof. Marušič's has secured more than 5 research grants and mentored more than 10 students.

"It is always great to be back in Trieste", adds Dr. Siaw Shi Boon, researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr Boon's group aims at translating basic research in tumour virology to specific, safe and affordable therapeutics for HPV. So far, her team has discovered 5 drug targets and at least 6 drug candidates for HPV-associated diseases, including cancers.

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