International School of Nanomedicine
School Directors Massimo Masserini & Mauro Ferrari
Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for
Scientific Culture
ERICE (Sicily) – Italy
Organizational Secretariat: Silvia Sesana
e-mail: nanomedicine.school@unimib.it
25-29 July 2025
8th Course: Integrating Biochemical Insights to Overcome Clinical Challenges in Cancer Nanomedicine
Course Director: Ferdinando Chiaradonna & Francesca Re
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
8th Course: INTEGRATING BIOCHEMICAL INSIGHTS TO OVERCOME CLINICAL CHALLENGES IN CANCER NANOMEDICINE
Erice, Italy, 25-29 JULY 2025
25 July 2025
ARRIVALS
Saturday July 26
09:00-09:30 Opening remarks on behalf of School Director: Prof. Massimo Masserini
Welcome by Course Directors:
Prof. Francesca Re and Prof. Ferdinando Chiaradonna
Practical information: Dr. Silvia Sesana
SESSION I Cancer metabolism
09:30 - 10:30 Elizabeth Cohen-Jonathan-Moyal (Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopole, France)
Implication of metabolism and tumor stem cell plasticity in glioblastoma radioresistance
10:30 -10:50 Davide Ferrario (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Innovative Design of Raft-like Nano-sized Liposomes for Targeted Nucleic Acid Delivery
10:50 - 11:20 Coffee break
11:20 - 11:40 Susanna Comi (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
A novel, glutathione-activated prodrug of pimasertib loaded in liposomes for targeted melanoma therapy
11:40 -12:00 Francesco Saverio Sica (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Modulation of the blood-brain barrier permeability by patient-derived glioblastoma stem cell secretome
12:00 -14.00 Lunch break
14:00 - 15.00 Christian Frezza (MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
The role of mitochondrial metabolism in cancer
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30 - 16.30 Francesca Re (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Next-Generation Nanocarriers for Brain-Targeted Therapies
16:30 - 17:30 Massimo Masserini
Sunday July 27
SESSION II Metabolic targets
09:00 - 10:00: Marcin Krzjkawski (Real Research Sp. z o.o., Kraków, Poland)
Application of resistant oncology 3D cell culture research models in advancing drug discovery against solid tumors
10:00 - 10:20 Veronica Fontanini (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Advanced 3D cell cultures for personalized GBM therapy development
10:20 -11:00 Coffee break
11:00 -11:20 Valentina Berni (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Enhancing temozolomide efficacy in glioblastoma with metformin: insights from multimodal imaging in patient-derived models
11.20-12.20 Ferdinando Chiaradonna (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Targeting Metabolic Rewiring to boost cancer therapy
12.30-14.30 Lunch break
14:30 - 15:30 Jonathan A. Coulter (School of Pharmacy, Queens University Belfast, United Kingdom)
Enhancing the radiation sensitivity of head-and-neck cancer via novel metabolic reprogramming strategies
15.30 -15.50 Barbara Zerbato (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
PGM3 inhibition shows cooperative effects with erastin inducing pancreatic cancer cell death via activation of the unfolded protein response
15:50-16:30: Coffee break
16:30 - 17:30 Sara Sdelci (The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) Barcelona Spain)
Metabolic control of tumour growth: from subcellular compartments to systemic interactions
SOCIAL DINNER
Monday July 28
SESSION III Smart nanotechnologies for cancer therapy and immunotherapy
09:00 - 10:00 Chiara Riganti (University of Torino, Italy)
Lipid metabolism-targeting nanoparticles: new weapons against chemo- and immuno-resistance in lung cancer
10:00-10:20 Michela Patrucco (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Brain Metastasis-Derived Nanoparticles: A Novel Strategy for Enhanced CNS Drug Delivery
10:20 -11:00 Coffee break
11:00 -11:20 Franziska Adermann (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany)
POx-Lipids: Immunologically Safer Alternatives to PEG-Lipids for mRNA Lipid Nanoparticle Formulations
11:20 -11:40 Jana Ismail (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany)
Smarter Drug Delivery Using Hybrid Nanoparticles: A Versatile Platform for Improved Cellular Uptake and Therapeutic Efficacy
11:40 - 12:40 POSTER SECTION (rapid fire presentations from young researchers)
Rossella Mosca, Alessandro Masoero, Nicolò Percivalle, Saeid Aliakbarpour
12:40 -14.30 Lunch break
14:30 -15.30 Twan Lammers (Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging, Center for Biohybrid Medical Systems, Germany)
Smart strategies to improve cancer nanomedicine performance and clinical translation
15.30 -15.50 Valentina Mangolini (IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi ONLUS, Italy)
Biophotonic Strategies for Extracellular Vesicle Analysis in Clinical Applications
CONCLUSION
Social Excursion
Tuesday July 29
DEPARTURES
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF NANOMEDICINE
Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for Scientific Culture
ERICE (Sicily) – Italy
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF NANOMEDICINE
Ettore Majorana Foundation and Center for Scientific Culture
ERICE (Sicily) – Italy