Working with Scientists Around the World
The Power of Collaboration
By Dr. Michele Carbone
One of the reasons we have been so successful is because we have been able to establish productive collaborations with many scientists around the world. Whenever I attend conferences, I have the opportunity to hear other scientists present their ideas and discoveries. I have met so many terrific people just by being next to someone on a plane, or sitting in a conference room, or listening to their talks.
Good science requires keeping an open mind. By meeting researchers in a variety of fields and learning their perspectives, our work becomes infused with new ideas and energy. I think of scientific problems as puzzles that need to be solved. The more people available to work together, problem solve, brainstorm, and then conduct research, the better. I’m proud of the many collaborations and excellent relationships we’ve established with scientists in laboratories all over the world. The results of our research have led us to publishing over 200 scientific articles during my career, and I hope that we have been able to prolong lives of individuals with mesothelioma.
As our research continues, we continue to search for new ways to prevent the development of malignant mesothelioma, as well as help cure the people who are unfortunate enough to develop this terrible cancer.
My research interest are to conduct multidisciplinary research on diseases in order to study their determinants, including environmental, genetic, and other risk factors, and provide information important for prevention and reduction of health inequities. I collaborate with Dr Carbone’s team in studying the role of gene-environment interactions in MM and the environmental causes of MM in the US.
I run a laboratory at Loyola University Chicago. Current research interests: tumor hypoxia, ovarian tumor deubiquitinases regulation of cancer metabilism.
I specialize in genome medicine and human genetics and serve as professor in medicine/human genetics and a practicing surgeon in Japan. I have been working with Carbone’s lab for 5 years now with an aim to study gene-environment interactions of molecular mechanisms of malignant mesothelioma to develop accurate prevention and diagnoses measures.
My professional focus has been the study of oncogenes in several cancer models, including mesothelioma. I joined Michele Carbone’s research team in 2009 as a Full Professor. I contributed to 2 main discoveries made in Michele’s lab: 1) Bap1 gene mutations predisposing to mesothelioma and other cancers (Bap1 cancer syndrome), and 2) the inflammatory mechanism of asbestos-induced oncogenesis (HMGB1 release upon necrosis). I currently work in Switzerland, where I continue to collaborate with Michele and a group from the University of Zurich on the study of a large Bap1 syndrome kindred with ancient European roots and other ongoing studies on Bap1 functions.
During my Ph.D. I proved in a murine model that germline BAP1 mutations predispose to malignant mesothelioma in presence of minimal asbestos exposure, and that specific isoforms of the pro-inflammatory molecule HMGB1 can help in the diagnosis of mesothelioma. I am starting a medical residency program in Italy now, but I continue to collaborate with Dr. Carbone’s and Dr. Yang’s teams by helping participating in the design and critical review of the research.
Professor and Head of Molecular and Cellular Pathology at IRCCS San Raffale and President of MEBIC (Medical and Experimental Bioimaging Center) Consortium with Tor Vergata University in Rome, Italy. Research: Hypoxic and Inflammatory adaptation in tumors and obesity-related diseases. PI of the project “A data-base of human pathology related inorganic fibers”.