Istruzione e formazione:

2007 Dottorato in Patologia Generale, c/o Dipartimento di Patologia Sperimentale, Biotecnologie Mediche, Infettivologia ed Epidemiologia, Università di Pisa
2003 Laurea in Scienze Biologiche (summa cum laude), Facoltà di Matematica, Fisica e Scienze Naturali, Università’ di Pisa- Italy

Attività di ricerca presso qualificati istituti italiani

1 Dicembre 2021- presente : Ricercatore a tempo determinato di tipo B, settore MED/04, c/o Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica- Università di Firenze
1 Giugno 2018 - 30 Novembre 2021 : Titolare di assegno di ricerca c/o Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica- Università di Firenze
1 Aprile 2016 - 31 Aprile 2018 : Borsa di ricerca post-dottorato finanziata dalla Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, ricerca svolta c/o Dipartimento Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università' di Firenze
1 Aprile 2015 - 31 Marzo 2016 : Borsa di ricerca post-dottorato finanziata dalla Fondazione Umberto Veronesi, ricerca svolta c/o Liver Unit and Center for Autoimmune Liver Diseases Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI)
2 Novembre 2012 - 31 Marzo 2015 : Contratto di collaborazione coordinata e continuativa, c/o Liver Unit and Center for Autoimmune Liver Diseases, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI)

Incarichi di ricerca (fellowship) presso qualificati istituti di ricerca esteri

1 Ottobre 2007 - 30 Settembre 2012 : Post-Doctoral Fellow, Cellular and Molecular Biology Section, Center for Cancer Research, Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (USA)

Abilitazione scientifica nazionale

2017–2026 ABILITAZIONE MED 06/A2 PATOLOGIA GENERALE E PATOLOGIA CLINICA – FASCIA II
2018–2027 ABILITAZIONE MED 06/N1 SCIENZE DELLE PROFESSIONI SANITARIE E DELLE TECNOLOGIE MEDICHE APPLICATE– FASCIA II

Finanziamenti per attività di ricerca

● BANDO PROGETTI DI RICERCA RICERCATORI ALL’ESTERO- RICERCA FINALIZZATA 2010 (Co-PI, giovane ricercatore all’estero in collaborazione con Dr. Berardi AC, responsabile del laboratorio di cellule staminali presso il dipartimento di medicina della trasfusione, Pescara). 2011-2014, Title:” Microvescicles in human Hepatocellular carcinoma: Potential for diagnostic and therapeutic applications” (215.000 EUR)
● CARIPLO 2014 (Co-PI in collaborazione con Dr. Riboldi Elena, Ricercatore, Università degli studi del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogadro”, dipartimento di scienze del farmaco, Novara). 2014-2017, Title:” Identification of new inflammatory pathways driving liver carcinogenesis” (70.000 EUR)
● AIRC - My First AIRC Grant 2015 (Principal Investigator) 2016–2018, Title: “Stem cell niche and tumor associated macrophages: a potential therapeutic target in cholangiocarcinoma” (225.000 EUR)
● AIRC - Investigator Grant 2019 (Principal Investigator) 2020–2025, Title “Metabolic Rewiring of the Cholangiocarcinoma Stem-like Compartment” (470.000 EUR)

Premi e riconoscimenti nazionali e internazionali per attività di ricerca

2009 Travel Award, ILCA, International Liver Association, Milano
2014 Full Bursary, European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) HCC SUMMIT, Ginevra
2015–2016 Post-doctoral Fellowship Award da Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. Titolo: “The role of stem cell niche and tumor associated macrophages in human cholangiocarcinoma”
2016–2017 Post-doctoral Fellowship Award da Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. Titolo: “Role of CCL2 in obesity-associated hepatocellular carcinoma”
2017–2018 Post-doctoral Fellowship Award da Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. Titolo:” Circulating Stem-Like Tumor Cells in Cholangiocarcinoma: Therapeutic Significance for Personalized Approaches”
2018 Premio “Giacomo Villa” per la migliore per la Migliore Pubblicazione (PMID: 27593106)
2018 Premio “Umberto Veronesi per la Migliore Pubblicazione” (PMID: 27593106)

indicatori di qualità individuale della produzione scientifica:

h-index (Scopus): 24

n. prodotti citati: 50

somma citazioni (Scopus): 3672

Partecipazione a gruppi di ricerca internazionali

European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (ENS-CCA) (PMID: 32606456, PMID: 27095655), costituito da gruppi di ricerca dislocati in 10 paesi europei interessati alla ricerca di base, traslazionale e clinica nel colangiocarcinoma. Questo network è stato recentemente finanziato da European Grant COST Action - Programma Horizon 2010 (Project ID: CA18122 European Cholangiocarcinoma Network). Ruolo di collaboratore nel working group 1.

Relazioni su invito a congressi e convegni internazionali (Invited speaker)

● CLEPSO 5th Clinical Epigenetics International Meeting, Dusseldorf (Germania) 2015. Titolo: “Epigenetics of Liver Cancer”
● Prima conferenza monotematica su Colangiocarcinoma organizzata dal network europeo per lo studio del colangiocarcinoma (ENS-CCA) San Sebastian (Spagna) 2016. Titolo: “Immune microenvironment and Cholangiocarcinoma”
● European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Liver Cancer Summit (Prague) 2020. Lettura dal titolo “Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), stemness & plasticity”
● Lettura dal titolo “The role of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in liver cancers” at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Digital Liver Cancer Summit 2022
● Lettura dal titolo “Metabolic Derangement: Therapeutic Opportunities for CCA?”, Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Annual Conference 2023, Salt lake City (US)
● Lettura dal titolo “Metabolic aspects of cholangiocarcinoma stem-like cells”2023 Focused symposium of HY IBB and Research Institute of Regenerative medicine and Stem cells (RMSC) on “ Biliary Fibrosis and Injury : Challenge and Treatment”, Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea)

Conference Chairperson

● European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Liver Cancer Summit (Prague) 2020. Sessione plenaria “Molecular mechanism of liver cancer development”
● European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) - Digital International Liver Congress, 2020. Sessione abstract “Molecular and cellular biology”
● European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Digital Liver Cancer Summit 2021. Sessione plenaria “Role of microenvironment in cholangiocarcinoma”

Attivita’ di revisore

2014 – 2017 Editorial Board Member of World Journal of Hepatology
2018-present Referee of Journal of Hepatology, Liver International, Scientific Reports, Carcinogenesis
2019 Guest Editor, Special Issue “Molecular Mechanism and Therapeutic Opportunities of Cholangiocarcinoma” Cells Journal
2020–2022 Reviewer for abstracts in the category: “Liver tumors: Experimental and pathophysiology” The International Liver Congress (EASL)
2021 – present Junior Editorial Board of Hepatoma Res
2021 – present Review Editor Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
2021 – present Associated Faculty Member - Faculty Opinions
2021 – present Associated Editor Inflammation journal
2022 – present Associated Editor Exploration of Digestive Diseases journal
2024 Editorial Board JHEP reports

Current Position

Assistant Professor, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

Previous positions

2016 – 2021: Senior Research Fellow and Team Leader, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

2012 – 2016:  Hepatobiliary Research Fellow, Liver Unit and Center for Autoimmune Liver Diseases Humanitas Clinical and Research Center- Rozzano (MI), Italy

2007 – 2012: Post Doc Research Fellow, Cellular and Molecular Biology Section, Center for Cancer Research, Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Education

2007 PhD (General Pathology), c/o Department of Experimental Pathology, Medical Biotechnology, Infectiology and Epidemiology, University of Pisa-Italy

Fellowships and awards

2015 – 2016 Post-doctoral Fellowship Award from Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. Title:” The role of stem cell niche and tumor associated macrophages in human cholangiocarcinoma”

2016 – 2017 Post-doctoral Fellowship Award from Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. Title:” Role of CCL2 in obesity-associated hepatocellular carcinoma"

2017 – 2018 Post-doctoral Fellowship Award from Fondazione Umberto Veronesi. Title:” Circulating Stem-Like Tumor Cells in Cholangiocarcinoma: Therapeutic Significance for Personalized Approaches”

2018 Award “Giacomo Villa for Best Publication”

2018 Award “U. Veronesi Best Publication 2018”

Membership of scientific societies

2016 Member, Research Network “European Network for the Study of Cholangiocarcinoma (Ens-Cca)” http://www.enscca.org/

Grants

● Italian MOH grant award (BANDO PROGETTI DI RICERCA RICERCATORI ALL’ESTERO- RICERCA FINALIZZATA 2010) as young Italian investigator abroad (in collaboration with Dr. Berardi AC, Head of the Stem Cell Laboratory at the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Pescara, Italy). Title:”Microvescicles in human Hepatocellular carcinoma: Potential for diagnostic and therapeutic applications” (215.000 EUR)
● Italian grant award CARIPLO 2014 as Co-PI investigator (in collaboration with Dr. Riboldi Elena, Research assistant, University of Eastern Piedmont “A. Avogadro”, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Novara, Italy). Title:” Identification of new inflammatory pathways driving liver carcinogenesis” (70.000 EUR)
● AIRC MFGA 2015 (PI Dr. Chiara Raggi) 2016 – 2018 “Stem cell niche and tumor associated macrophages: a potential therapeutic target in cholangiocarcinoma” (225.000 EUR)
● AIRC IG 2019 (PI Dr. Chiara Raggi) 2020 – 2024 “Metabolic rewiring of cholangiocarcinoma stem-like component ” (447.000 EUR)

Reviewing activities

2010 Reviewer, Italian MOH grants (Ricerca finalizzata 2010) 2014 – 2017 Editorial Board Member of World Journal of Hepatology
2018-present Referee of Journal of Hepatology, Liver International, Scientific Reports, Carcinogenesis 2019 Guest Editor, Special Issue
“Molecular Mechanism and Therapeutic Opportunities of Cholangiocarcinoma” Cells Journal 2020 – 2022 Reviewer for abstracts in the category: “Liver tumours: Experimental and pathophysiology”
The International Liver Congress (EASL) 2021 – present Junior Editorial Board of Hepatoma Res
2021 – present Review Editor for Molecular Medicine (specialty section of Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology)
2021 – present Review Editor for Signaling (specialty section of Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology) 2021 – present Associated Faculty Member - Faculty Opinions
2021 – present Associated Editor Inflammation journal
2022 – present Associated Editor Exploration of Digestive Diseases journal

Other special scientific recognition

● Invited speaker at AASLD 2013 meeting - Stem cells and progenitor session “Epigenetic Reprogramming Modulates Malignant Properties of Human Liver Cancer Cells”
● Oral presentation, AISF 2014 meeting (Rome) – “Stem cell niche and macrophages in human cholangiocarcinoma”
● Invited speaker at 22° Congresso Nazionale delle Malattie Digestive FISMAD Napoli, 24-27 febbraio 2016. Joint Meeting dal titolo “Cellule Staminali dal laboratorio alla pratica clinica” incarico a svolgere una relazione dal titolo “Il ruolo delle cellule staminali tumorali nella carcinogenesi epatica”
● Oral presentation, EASL 2016 meeting (Barcellona) – “Cholangiocarcinoma stem-like subest shapes tumor-initiating niche by educating associated macrophages”
● Invited speaker at I INTERNATIONAL MONOTHEMATIC CONFERENCE ON CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA Organized by the European Network for the Study of Cholanciocarcinoma (San Sebastian, Spain) “Immune microenvironment and Cholangiocarcinoma”
● Lecture on “Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), stemness & plasticity” at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) Liver Cancer Summit 2020 (Prague)
● Lecture on “The role of mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in liver cancers” at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Digital Liver Cancer Summit 2022
● Invited speaker “Metabolic aspects of cholangiocarcinoma stem compartment” 2023 Focused Symposium of HY-IBB and Research Institute of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells (RMSC) Biliary Fibrosis and Injury : Challenge and Treatment (Seoul, South Korea)
● Seminar speaker “Metabolic Derangement: Therapeutic Opportunities for CCA?” at the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation Annual Conference 2023 (Salt Lake City, US)

Scientific expertise

In recent years Dr. Raggi has developed a strong scientific background in the field of liver cancer stem cells (CSCs). At the end of her doctoral program she was selected as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) - NIH, headed by Dr. Snorri S. Thorgeirsson, n to continue her studies on human carcinogenesis.
During the years she spent at the NIH, Dr. Raggi focused her work on the pathogenetic and molecular aspects of CSCs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In particular, he examined the role of epigenetic modifications in the regulation of biological activities of hepatic CSCs. One of his studies (PMID: 21618577) has shown how epigenetic modulation can provide a tool for the isolation and in-depth analysis of CSCs in the pathogenesis of HCC. Furthermore, Dr. Raggi developed an in vitro model to analyze the response of CSCs to the cellular microenvironment in combination with epigenetic modulation, describing how the cellular context is a determining factor in the selection of HCC-CSCs, after inhibition of DNMT1 (PMID: 24449497). These and other projects (PMID: 24958469, PMID: 23523670, PMID: 22095660, PMID: 20959491, PMID: 21499307, PMID: 20962331) have been
published in high impact journals.
At the end of 2012, Dr. Raggi decided to continue her research activity in a prestigious Italian laboratory. She therefore joined the group of Dr. Pietro Invernizzi at the Humanitas Institute in Milan, as an independent researcher. Here he turned his attention to the biology of CSCs in human cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a highly innovative aspect in the field of experimental oncology. The studies addressed the interactions between CSCs and immunity cells and the tumor microenvironment in the pathogenesis and progression of CCA. In particular, a high-impact study analyzed the crosstalk of CCA CSCs with macrophages from the stem cell niche (PMID: 27593106). This and other studies conducted during the working period at the Humanitas Institute have been published in high-impact journals and widespread in the scientific community (PMID: 30941302, PMID: 31231470, PMID: 25961921, PMID: 25220250).
In 2016, Dr. Raggi was the winner of a research grant from the Veronesi Foundation, to be carried out at the University of Florence, in the group of Prof. Fabio Marra, in order to deepen the relationship between CSC and tumor microenvironment in pathogenesis of the CCA. Studies conducted in recent years have made it possible to identify the role of soluble factors produced by the tumor microenvironment (PMID: 32784743, PMID: 31059778, PMID: 31641101, PMID: 31351075, PMID:
30249019) and the metabolic changes associated with stem cells of CCA (PMID: 33484774, PMID: 32138158).
As research objectives in the medium term, Dr. Raggi intends to undertake other innovative studies on the pathogenetic role of stem cells in hepatobiliary tumors, developing new models in vitro (e.g. organoids with human cells) and in vivo (models of Orthotopic CCA in mice). It also intends to implement the use of new hypothesis-independent approaches (so-called omics) also by strengthening the network of national and international collaborations developed over the years.