PHILADELPHIA — (Feb. 14, 2024) — The Wistar Institute, an international biomedical research leader in cancer, infectious disease, immunology, and vaccine development, is pleased to announce the recruitment of Irene Bertolini, Ph.D., to the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center, where she joins Wistar’s Immunology, Microenvironment, and Metastasis Program as a Caspar Wistar Fellow.
Dr. Bertolini’s promotion to Wistar faculty is made possible by the Caspar Wistar Fellows Program, which supports outstanding junior scientists in the early stages of their careers as independent investigators. As a faculty member, Dr. Bertolini now runs her own laboratory, which allows her to pursue and develop her research interests in collaboration with Wistar scientists as well as biomedical researchers throughout the world.
“I’m both excited and grateful for the opportunity to join the faculty of The Wistar Institute as a Caspar Wistar Fellow,” said Dr. Bertolini. “I know first-hand the exceptional environment and resources that Wistar has to offer new investigators like me — I can’t think of a better place to start my lab.”
Dr. Bertolini is establishing the Bertolini lab to study the relationship between breast & brain cancers and extracellular vesicles, which are packets of biological materials that cells emit and exchange. Certain extracellular vesicles from cancerous cells can contribute to conditions that can promote cancer’s growth and spread, and Dr. Bertolini’s research program aims to characterize — and, ultimately, find a way to stop — the pro-cancer mechanisms of extracellular vesicles.
“Irene has been an invaluable member of my lab for years, so it is a special pleasure for me to watch her step up to the role of Caspar Wistar Fellow,” says Dario Altieri, M.D., Wistar president and CEO, director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center, and the Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor. “With years of experience and a love for her work, Dr. Bertolini will do the Wistar name proud. Her work on the tumor microenvironment and extracellular vesicles is an exciting contribution to Wistar’s cancer research, and I look forward to seeing what the Bertolini lab will accomplish.”
ABOUT THE WISTAR INSTITUTE:
The Wistar Institute is the nation’s first independent nonprofit institution devoted exclusively to foundational biomedical research and training. Since 1972, the Institute has held National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center status. Through a culture and commitment to biomedical collaboration and innovation, Wistar science leads to breakthrough early-stage discoveries and life science sector start-ups. Wistar scientists are dedicated to solving some of the world’s most challenging problems in the field of cancer and immunology, advancing human health through early-stage discovery and training the next generation of biomedical researchers. wistar.org
