National Phd in Systems Medicine | Università degli Studi di Milano Statale

Doctoral programme (PhD)

A.Y. 2026/2027

Study area

Medicine and Healthcare

Doctoral programme (PhD)

Years

Dipartimento di Oncologia ed Emato-Oncologia- Via Santa Sofia 9/1 20122 Milano MI Italia

Language

English

PhD Coordinator

Pasini Diego

Course objectives

The national doctoral program in Systems Medicine involves the participation of seven universities (UNIMI as the administrative site, Humanitas University, UNIBA, UNICatt, UNINA, UNITN, UNITO) and eight research centers. It is based on three main characteristics: competitive selection, intensive tutoring, and advanced training. The organizational model includes the effective sharing of educational and research activities among the different institutions involved, as well as exchange and mobility of professors and doctoral students, and forms of co-supervision.

Advances in genetics and genomic sciences have triggered a revolution, transforming classical Medicine into what is now known as Precision Medicine. This new approach is based on the acquisition and integration of vast amounts of quantitative molecular data and their use for a personalized definition of disease and targeted therapy. The transition to Precision Medicine requires professionals with new skills and multidisciplinary training.

The national doctoral program in Systems Medicine aims to provide doctors and scientists with interdisciplinary theoretical and technological training in biomedical sciences to address the challenges of precision medicine. The goal is to train professionals capable of tackling highly complex technological and therapeutic strategies with multidisciplinary approaches, enabling them to: i) manage emerging areas of medicine (e.g., quantitative biology, biomarkers, personalized medicine, etc.); ii) conduct research in multidisciplinary teams focused on solving biomedical problems; and iii) analyze the economic, ethical, and/or psychosocial issues associated with research and/or disease management.
The doctoral program is organized into Research Areas proposed by the participating institutions based on their characteristics and areas of scientific excellence, such as: Cancer Biology, Computational Biology, Genomic Medicine, Immunology, Medical Humanities, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Molecular Therapy, Neurobiology, Structural Biology. These areas intersect and serve as the foundation for a broad, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary doctoral program that can easily incorporate other areas of expertise.

Entry requirements

Tutte le classi di laurea magistrale - All classes master's degree

Course location

Dipartimento di Oncologia ed Emato-Oncologia- Via Santa Sofia 9/1 20122 Milano MI Italia

Contacts

Main offices
Dipartimento di Oncologia ed Emato-Oncologia - Via Santa Sofia 9/1 20122 Milano MI Italia
Degree course coordinator: Pasini Diego
Via Adamello, 16 - IFOM - Istituto FIRC di Oncologia Molecolare ed. 9
[email protected]
Degree course website
https://semm.it/training/scientific-courses/

Research lines

Title	Professor(s)
Identifying Functional Proteomic Signatures in Epithelioid Sarcoma	A. Bachi (IFOM)
Unveiling the dark proteome of cancer: Defining the Existence and Therapeutic Potential of Noncanonical ORFs in Cancer	A. Bachi (IFOM)
De novo discovery from RNA to Protein in patient-derived cancer models (AIRC-Calviello-MFAG 2025-32645-EI66A)	L. Calviello (HT)
A systems-level approach to unravel the crosstalk between tumor microenvironment and ovarian cancer stem cells	U. Cavallaro (IEO)
Crosstalk between tumor vasculature and ovarian cancer stem cells: the new role of L1CAM	U. Cavallaro (IEO)
Decoding the splicing code of KRAS G12C inhibitor resistance in lung adenocarcinoma	Cereda Matteo
RNA regulatory networks in translational oncology	Cereda Matteo
Synthetic Lethality Approaches to selectively kill BRCA1 and BRCA2 Deficient Tumors by targeting DNA replication gaps	Costanzo Vincenzo
Mastering the Survival Secrets of Cancer: Unveiling and Targeting the Hidden Mechanisms Behind Cancer Therapy Resistance and Cellular Endurance	Costanzo Vincenzo
How DNA Repair Proteins Integrate Multiple DNA Metabolism Pathways to Safeguard Genome Stability	Costanzo Vincenzo
The ATM dependent signal transduction pathway and its links with cellular metabolism in normal cells and in Ataxia Telangiectasia	Costanzo Vincenzo
How do tumor cells accumulate extrachromosomal circular DNA?	Y. Doksani (IFOM)
Investigating telomere loss during replication	Y. Doksani (IFOM)
Conditioning the gut ecosystem to enhance checkpoint inhibitors efficacy via enterotropic T cells (AIRC IG 2025 ID 32366)	F. Grassi
Monitoring immunesurveillance: Analysis of repetitive Elements and Fragmentomics in Tissue and Blood	C. Tripodo S. Marsoni (IFOM) G. Crisafulli (IFOM)
The Restrictor complex and the control of extragenic transcription (acronimo "RESET") - bando FIS 2	G. Natoli (IEO)
Functional dissection of cerebral cavernous malformations epigenetic drivers using single-cell CRISPR screens	M. Pagani
Novel hypoxia-based regulatory T cell programs in tumor-immune communication	M. Pagani
Dissection of the regulatory networks that shape human T cells functional plasticity in the context of tumor immune responses	M. Pagani
Characterization of the molecular blueprints of T cell subsets at tumor site	M. Pagani
Genomic rearrangements at epithelial-gene enhancers as drivers of mesenchymal transition and metastatization in breast cancer: mechanisms of occurrence and transcriptional de-regulation (acronimo "REMOT") - bando FIS 3	Pelicci Pier Giuseppe
Digital approaches to psychological screening in oncology	G. Pravettoni
Breast reconstruction. Preferences and needs of patients and satisfaction of long-term choices	G. Pravettoni
Psychological Wellbeing and Artificial Intelligence across cancer trajectory	G. Pravettoni
Impact of the intervention system and adherence to long-term care of the patient	G. Pravettoni
Metabolic Vulnerabilities and Adaptations in Aneuploid Cancers	S. Santaguida
Deciphering and exploiting aneuploidy in cancer	S. Santaguida
Molecular underpinnings of robustness in the epigenetic regulatory network (acronimo "EpiRobust") - bando FIS 3	P. Scaffidi (IEO)
Modelling immunotherapy response in cancer	M. Schaefer (IEO)
The cancer code: unraveling selection across the cancer genome and epigenome	M. Schaefer (IEO)
Translational spatial profiling	D. Schapiro (IFOM)
Tumor Spatial Biology	D. Schapiro (IFOM)
Development and application of spatially resolved (single-cell) technologies to understand how tumors evolve, evade immune control, and respond to therapy	D. Schapiro (IFOM)
Building of computational and experimental tools to enable unprecedented insights into tissues in health and disease	D. Schapiro (IFOM)
Pathways, Risk Factors, And Molecules to Prevent Early-Onset Colorectal Tumors (CRUK PROSPECT)	N. Segata (UNITN)
Dissecting B cell fate decisions: integrating omics and imaging to reveal drivers of plasma cell differentiation	B. Soskic (HT)
Genetic and regulatory determinants of altered B cell function in immune diseases	B. Soskic (HT)
Investigating molecular and cellular determinants of B cell differentiation	B. Soskic (HT)
Elucidating the genetic control of T cell – B cell interaction and antibody production	B. Soskic (HT)
RNAseq-Driven Machine Learning framework for Predicting Immunotherapy Response (acronimo "PRIME") - bando FIS 3	Zhan Yinxiu
Genome editing in liver for therapy of inherited diseases	A. Auricchio (UNINA)
New therapies for inherited metabolic disorders	N. Brunetti (UNINA)
Population genomics for surveillance of common and rare genetic diseases	D. Cacchiarelli (UNINA)
Dissecting and piloting the intracellullar tarfficking of AAVs	A. De Matteis (UNINA)
Engineering Synthetic Gene Circuits for advancing gene and cell therapy	D. Di Bernardo (UNINA)
Lysosomal signaling in metabolic diseases	G. Napolitano (UNINA)
The RNA world in Inherited Retinal Disease	S.Banfi (UNINA)
Advancing Novel Epigenetic-Based Strategies to Target CRC Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	L. Altucci (Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)
Decoding tumor evolution to optimize sequential RAS-targeted therapies Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	C. Ambrogio (UNITO)
Proteomic profiling of epitheliod sarcoma to identify diagnostic markers and clinically actionable pathways Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	A. Bachi (IFOM)
Targeting Metastatic Prowess with Translational Oncology Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	A. Bardelli (UNITO)
Personalized Function-based resection for IDH-mutant glioma patients Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	L. Bello (UNIMI)
Tracking non-tumor-derived cfDNA in longitudinal liquid biopsies to monitor treatment response in metastatic cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	M. Benelli (UNIFI)
The Role of Non-coding RNA in Lung Cancer Progression and Chemo-Immunotherapy Response Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	F. Bianchi (Fondazione Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza - I.R.C.C.S.)
Translational development of LINE1-targeting RNA therapeutics to restore anti-tumor T-cell function Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	B. Bodega (INGM)
Translational and clinical activities related to trials for oral cancer prevention and treatment Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	P. Bossi (Humanitas Mirasole S.p.A.)
Targeting Epigenetic and 3D Genome Vulnerabilities in Uterine Leiomyosarcoma Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	C. Brancolini (UNIUD)
The methylate SMYD3 Links Chromosomal Instability to the Cytosolic DNA Sensing in Breast Cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	G. Caretti (UNIMI)
Unraveling the ovarian cancer immune microenvironment and its response to immunotherapy through patient-derived models Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	U. Cavallaro (IEO)
Predisposition to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: from genes to families and back. Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	G. Cazzaniga (Fondazione M. Tettamanti M. De Marchi Onlus)
In vivo transduction of engineered TCRs for next-generation lung cancer therapy Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	R. Chiarle (UNITO)
Aptamer-based liquid biospy on EVs from breast cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	G. Condorelli (UNINA)
Replication-stress-driven re-programming and immune escape in aggressive human cancers Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	V. Costanzo (IFOM)
Multi-Omics studies of the Mechanism and Toxicity of a Novel Anticancer Drug in Colorectal Cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	M. P. Costi (UNIMORE)
Functional validation of clonal evolution patterns in myelodysplastic syndromes using bone marrow organoids Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	M. G. Della Porta (Università Humanitas)
Functional and Liquid Biopsy Genomics to Characterize PARP Inhibitor Responses in Prostate Cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	F. Demichelis (UNITN)
Spatial Multi-Omics Mapping of the Intestinal Microenvironment in Colitis-Associated Cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	F. Facciotti (UNIMIB)
Advanced proteomic characterization of relapse and immunotherapy resistance in PAX5-rearranged pediatric B-cell Leukemia Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	G. Fazio (Fondazione M. Tettamanti M. De Marchi Onlus)
Targeting PBX as a novel therapy for myeloproliferative neoplasm: effect on disease course through innovative assays. Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	F. Ficara (Humanitas Mirasole S.p.A.)
Human Genetically Defined PDAC Organoids to Identify Early Diagnostic Biomarkers Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	G. Fiermonte (UNIBA)
Multiplexed single-cell measurements of ERK/JNK/p38 dynamics to predict colorectal cancer response to chemotherapy Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	P. A. Gagliardi (UNITO)
Dissecting the IL-10/IL10R axis in human Melanoma: Spatial immunophenotyping to predict immunotherapy response. Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	J. A. Geginat (INGM)
Novel small molecule FGF traps as drug candidates for cancer therapy: from biophysical screening to in vivo validation Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	A. Giacomini (UNIBS)
Restoring Immune Surveillance in Liver Tumors through Endothelial Reprogramming Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	M. Iannacone (Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele)
Biomarkers of anti-tumor response in solid tumors treated with combination immunotherapy targeting immunosuppression Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	E. Lugli (Humanitas Mirasole S.p.A.)
Reprogramming NK cell dysfunction in breast and ovarian cancers to enhance immunotherapy efficacy Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	E. Marcenaro (UNIGE)
Beyond Pathology: Integrating FLIM and MALDI Imaging for Hidden Ultrastructural Insights in Glioblastoma Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	C. M. Mazzanti (Fondazione Pisana per la Scienza Onlus)
Investigating the role of peroxisomes in modulating radiotherapy response in breast cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	A. Morandi (UNIFI)
Platelet function evaluation in patient with lung cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	A. Morotti (UNITO)
A novel gene modulating genomic instability in cancer cells: mechanisms and functions in chromatin regulation Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	M. Muzi Falconi (UNIMI)
Single-cell predictors biomarkers of sacituzumab govitecan (SG) or SG + pembrolizumab in muscle-invasive bladder cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	A. Necchi (Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele)
DEMO-BRCA: Deciphering the Epigenetic and Microenvironmental Modifiers of BRCA1/2-Driven Tumor Onset Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	F. Orso (UNIUPO, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro")
Dissecting Male Breast Cancer: Inherited Risk, Tumor Biology and Multi-Omics Integration for Clinical Translation Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	L. Ottini (Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza")
Mapping the Spatial Microenvironment and Cellular Plasticity in Metastatic Colo-rectal cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	M. Pagani (IFOM)
Uncovering Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in EZH2-Mutant Germinal Center Lymphomas Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	D. Pasini (IEO)
Targeting metabolic vulnerabilities of circulating tumor cells to prevent metastatic relapse. Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	P. G. Pelicci (IEO)
Dissecting the molecular underpinnings of clinically relevant NET cell states to improve patients' outcome Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	N. S. Pellegata (UNIPV)
Towards new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of SETBP1-driven leukemias Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	R. Piazza (UNIMIB)
Targeting thyroid hormone signaling to overcome cancer-related fatigue driven by tyrosine-kinase inhibitors Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	D. Salvatore (UNINA)
Molecular and clinical characterization of micronuclei in chromosomally-unstable tumors Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	S. Santaguida (IEO)
Multifunctional CARs for enhanced leukemic stem cell targeting and bone marrow homing Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	M. Serafini (Fondazione M. Tettamanti M. De Marchi Onlus)
Extracellular Vesicle-Mediated Tumor Evolution and Adaptive Resistance in Advanced High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	L. Tamagnone (UNICATT)
CAR-T Therapy for Glioblastoma Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	L. Tiberi (UNITN)
Targeting mitochondria to prevent cancer tolerance and persistency Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	G. Tonon (Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele)
Perturbed hematopoiesis as a systemic driver of cancer evolution Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	C. Tripodo (IFOM)
Modeling PAM variants in ACTH-secreting pituitary tumors using human organoids Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	G. Trivellin (Università Humanitas)
Tumor-Hijacked Monocytes as Drivers of Cancer Progression, Metastasis and Response to Immunotherapy Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	S. Ugel (UNIVR)
Genetic and Epigenetic Trajectories of Immune Escape in Post-Transplant AML Relapse Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	L. A. E. Vago (Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele)
Addressing complexity of leukemia genome by chromatin 3D structure analysis Requirements: Addressed to medical graduates enrolled in their final year of medical specialty or who have completed their medical specialty training within the 12 months preceding the PhD start date.	A. Vannucchi (UNIFI)