Sonia Quaratino

CMO - transitioned the company from preclinical to clinical stage, until its successful acquisition by Sanofi

NIBR Translational Clinical Oncology - Immunotherapy

Responsible for the design, conduct and interpretation of clinical trials testing first-in-class compounds in immuno-oncology (peptide vaccines, immunocytokines and immune modulators). Core team contributor to the clinical development plans.

Principal Investigator and group leader. Strong track record in molecular and cellular immunology and demonstrated ability to apply basic science to human studies. Using different experimental approaches, from in vitro culture of human biopsies to in vivo mouse models of human diseases, the group focussed on the mechanisms leading to the activation and the modulation of T cells, the networks with peripheral regulators such as regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and the interface between innate and adaptive immunity. Authored of well-cited scientific publications in high impact journals in the field of basic and translational immunology. Discoveries and Breakthroughs in basic immunology: • Function of double negative CD3+CD4-CD8- T cells (J.Immunol. 1991) • Definition of T cell epitope molecular mimicry (PNAS 1995) • First description of cryptic epitopes in human (J.Exp.Med. 1996) • First description of fully competent dendritic cells with tolerogenic function (PNAS 2000) Discoveries and Breakthroughs in translational medicine: • Key role of IL-15 in the pathogenesis of Coeliac Disease (Gastroenterology 2000) • Innate immune response in the pathogenesis of Coeliac Disease (Lancet 2003) • T cell activation as sole trigger to initiate an autoimmune disease (Nat. Med 2004) • Cross-talk between T cells and B cells in human autoimmunity (J.Immunol. 2005) • Characterization of the inflammatory path in Cystic Fibrosis (J.Immunol. 2008) • Role of tissue transglutaminase in chronic inflammatory diseases (J.Immunol. 2009) • Failed Autophagy as mechanism leading to chronic inflammation (Nature Cell Biol. 2010) • AICD of self-reactive regulatory T cells drives autoimmunity (PNAS 2019)