Sertorio Laboratory

The Sertorio Laboratory is focused on development of new drug/radiotherapy combinatory strategies based on the specific biological response of tumor and normal tissue to different radiation types.

Dr. Sertorio performed his research PhD at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in the Division of Immunology and Genetics of Parasitic Diseases in Marseille (France). While there, he studied the human immune response to schistosomiasis, and genetic susceptibility to severe forms of the disease (liver fibrosis).  Dr. Sertorio extended his research training in radiation-biology from 2015 to 2019 and developed his expertise in proton radio-biology research.

The research of the Sertorio Laboratory focuses now on the specific biological and molecular responses to particle radiation therapy and to define new particle therapy sensitizer for cancer treatment:
Precise dose delivery makes proton therapy a preferred approach of irradiation for healthy tissue sparing during cancer treatment. This is particularly relevant for childhood cancer and patients with inherited susceptibility to DNA damaging agents. Despite the use of particle therapy in the clinic, little is known about the biological response especially when compared to the conventional X-ray therapy. His research is aimed to determine differential cancer and normal tissue responses to particle therapy in comparison to X-ray, to optimize clinical usage and develop combinatorial strategies for sensitizing tumors and improving outcome of particle therapy. The preclinical research of the Sertorio lab is based on development and usage of new 3D in-vitro models, in-vivo immunocompetent mouse models and omics approaches to define potential candidate targets.

Actual projects in the laboratory focus for the tumor side on head and neck cancers, sarcoma, and lymphoma and for the normal tissue side on skin, muscle, and central nervous system with an emphasis on radiation induced damages on cellular organelles.