Obituary

Dr. Daniela Santoli, a professor in the Immunology Program at The Wistar Institute and member of Penn's Cancer Center and Graduate Immunology Group, died on January 23, 2004, of ovarian cancer at the age of 56.

After earning her Ph.D. at the University of Rome, Dr. Santoli was recruited as a postdoctoral fellow to The Wistar Institute in 1972 by Dr. Hilary Koprowski, Wistar's former director. Her initial research at Wistar was on the virological aspects of multiple sclerosis and later the immunology of this disease. Her research evolved over time to target cancer and the defenses mounted against it by the immune system. Her passion and the focus of her research over the past 15 years involved using transplanted TALL-104 immune cells to treat a variety of cancers. This work was carried out with colleagues Drs. Sophie Visonneau and Alessandra Cesano, both of whom trained in her laboratory. The team discovered that TALL-104 cells had a remarkable ability to recognize and selectively kill cancer cells in animals, and much of her recent work focused on developing ways to apply this system to human cancers. The therapy has been shown to have potential applications against many kinds of human cancers, with its greatest promise appearing to rest in killing off cancer cells that remain after surgery or chemotherapy. Human clinical trials of TALL-104 cells are currently under way in Europe.

Dr. Louise C. Showe, an associate professor in Wistar's Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program, and a long-time colleague said, "Dr. Santoli was a valued colleague at Wistar for more than 30 years. Her whole scientific career took place here, from post-doctoral fellow to Wistar professor."

She was also deeply involved with investigators at Penn on developing the clinical applications of TALL-104 cells.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. Giovanni Rovera, a pathologist and former professor and director of The Wistar Institute, whom she met at Wistar and married in 1979. She is also survived by their three daughters Stefania, Gabriella, and Julia; her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Giulio Santoli of Rome, Italy; and her siblings Mariella, Giovanna, and Pasquale, who also reside in Italy.

Memorial donations for cancer research may be made in her name to the Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104.