Massimiliano Mazzone pursued a master’s degree in medical biotechnology in 2002, completing the five-year course with full marks and exceptional honors at the School of Medicine, University of Torino, Italy. His PhD in Cell Science and Technology was completed in 2007 at the Division of Molecular Oncology, at the University of Torino, Italy.
From November 2006 to January 2009, he served as a EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow at the Vesalius Research Center, VIB, Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium. He is currently the Head of the Laboratory of Tumor Inflammation and Angiogenesis at the Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, and Full Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, KU Leuven, Belgium. He started as a Junior Group Leader from March 2009 to September 2014, progressed to become a Group Leader from October 2014 to December 2017, and currently holds the position of Senior Group Leader. From 2018 to 2021, he. Has he has been appointed Extraordinary Professor at the University or Torino. Starting from January 2024, he was appointed full professor at Hunimed University and became Head of the Laboratory of Immuno-Oncology and Macrophage Dynamics.
Academic honors, awards and prices:
- November 2023 ERC Proof-of-Concept
- September 2023 FEBS Lecture Award
- June 2022 EMBO Keynote Lecture Award
- February 2022 ERC Proof-of-Concept
- June 2021 EMBO Member
- November 2017 ERC Consolidator Grant
- August 2016 ERC Proof-of-Concept
- December 2015 Foundation AstraZeneca Award
- July 2015 Chiara D’Onofrio Award (Senior category) from the Foundation Chiara D’Onofrio and the Italian Association for Biophysics and Molecular Biology (Torino, July 1st)
- November 2014 EMBO Young Investigator Award 2014
- November 2014 André Vander Stricht-Emile Carpentier Prize, King Baudouin Foundation (Brussels, November 11th)
- August 2012 ERC Starting Grant
- May 2012 Foundation Andrea and Libi Lorini Award 2011
- September 2010 Prof. Karel-Lodewijk Verleysen Award, Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine
- May 2010 Research Council Award 2010, KU Leuven
- April 2010 Burgen Award, Academy of Europe
- November 2009 Rimaux-Bartier Schenking Award
- May 2008 Science Award for the best abstract, 8th ESH conference on angiogenesis (Paris, May 9th-12th)
- January 2007 Selected for the FEBS Long-Term Fellowship
- December 2006 EMBO Long-Term Fellowship
- May 2005 Giulia Colletta Award, Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC)
The research began to explore vascular biology, uncovering a novel endothelial cell phenotype during hypoxic tissue perfusion (Mazzone et al., Cell, 2009; Leite de Oliveira et al., Cancer Cell, 2012; Ehling et al., Circulation Res, 2019). This pivotal discovery propelled investigations into how inflammatory cells respond to hypoxia, with the goal of restoring blood flow in conditions such as cancer and ischemia (Rolny et al., Cancer Cell, 2011; Casazza et al., Cancer Cell, 2013; Takeda et al., Nature, 2011; Hamm et al., EMBO Mol Med, 2013). Concurrently, the research’s work highlighted the adaptive mechanisms of cancer cells under glucose or oxygen deprivation, elucidating how they remodel their metabolic and oxygen-sensing machinery to evade cell death (Di Conza et al., Cell Rep, 2017a; Di Conza et al., Cell Rep, 2017b). Pioneering the understanding of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), the research group established the critical role played by TAM localization and metabolism in shaping their pro-tumoral, angiogenic, and immunosuppressive traits (Casazza et al., Cancer Cell, 2013; Bieniasz-Krzywiec et al., Cell Metabolism, 2019; Wenes et al., Cell Metabolism, 2016; Palmieri et al., Cell Rep, 2017; Menga et al., EMBO Mol Med, 2020; Menga et al., EMBO Rep, 2021). Then, the research activity extended beyond cancer, encompassing immune cell responses in diverse contexts such as inflammation, infections, and tissue regeneration, significantly advancing the understanding of vessel remodeling, macrophage diversity, immune suppression, T cell exclusion, and resistance to immunotherapy (Celus et al., Cancer Immunol Res, 2021; Cappellesso et al., Nature Cancer, 2022; Pinioti et al., Cancer Immunol Res, 2023). The impactful translational outcomes of their work were evident in ongoing clinical trials, the establishment of two spin-off companies, numerous industrial collaborations, drug screening initiatives, a licensed diagnostic kit, and an immunotherapeutic antibody, highlighting and supporting the practical application and commercialization of their research in the realms of healthcare and therapeutics.
- Cappellesso F, Orban M-P, Shirgaonkar N, Berardi E, Serneels J, Neveu M-A, di Molfetta D, Piccapane F, Caroppo R, Debellis L, Ostyn T, Joudiou N, Mignion L, Richiardone E, Jordan B.F., Gallez B, Corbet C, Roskams T, Dasgupta R, Tejpar S, Di Matteo M, Taverna D, Reshkin S.J., Topal B, Virga F, Mazzone M. Targeting the bicarbonate transporter SLC4A4 overcomes immunosuppression and immunotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer. Nature Cancer, 3(12) :1464-1483 (2022).
- Bieniasz-Krzywiec P, Martín-Pérez R, Ehling M, Kroes R, Aldeni C, García-Caballero M, Prenen H, Noel A, Smeet A, Floris G, Van Ginderachter JA, and Mazzone M. Podoplanin-expressing macrophages are required for lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis in breast cancer. Cell Metabolism, 30 (5):917-947 (2019).
- Shang M, Cappellesso F, Amorim R, Serneels J, Virga F, Di Matteo M, Eelen G, Carobbio S, Rincon MY, De Bock K, Maechler P, Ho PC, Sandri M, Ghesquière B, Carmeliet P, Berardi E, and Mazzone M. Macrophage-derived glutamine boosts satellite cells and muscle regeneration. Nature, 587(7835):626-631 (2020).
- Finisguerra V, Di Conza G, Di Matteo M, Serneels J, Costa S, Thompson R, Wauters E, Walmsley S, Prenen H, Granot Z, Casazza A, and Mazzone M. MET is required for the recruitement of anti-tumoural neutrophils. Nature, 522(7556): 349-353 (2015).
- Casazza A, Laoui D, Wenes M, Rizzolio S, Bassani N, Mambretti M, Deschoemaeker S, Van Ginderachter JA, Tamagnone L, and Mazzone M. Impeding macrophage entry into hypoxic tumor areas by Sema3A/Nrp1 signaling blockade inhibits angiogenesis and restores anti-tumor immunity. Cancer Cell, 24(6): 695-709 (2013).