Meet the Finalists of the 2026 ISSNAF Young Investigator Paola Campese Award
Established by Stefania and Vito Campese in 2011, the Paola Campese award for research in hematologic malignencies is in memory of their young, talented and generous daughter Paola.
We are delighted to share and celebrate the outstanding finalists for the 2025 edition:
Nicoletta Cieri
Ludovica Marando
Luca Paruzzo
The winner will be announced on November 12 at the ISSNAF 2026 Annual Event in Washington, D.C.
The Jury, chaired by Alessandra Ferrajoli (MD Anderson Cancer Center), also includes Laura Pasqualucci (Columbia University), Paolo Strati (MD Anderson Cancer Center) and Agostino Tafuri (Università di Roma La Sapienza)
Learn more about the three finalists and their research.
NICOLETTA CIERI
Nicoletta Cieri is an Italian physician-scientist who recently established her independent laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her research bridges computational genomics, T cell immunology, and clinical transplantation, with the goal of translating fundamental discoveries into improved cancer treatments. As she builds her research group, she is particularly interested in connecting with talented and motivated early-career scientists, including prospective postdoctoral fellows with backgrounds in immunology, computational biology, or genomics. She welcomes opportunities for scientific collaboration and mentorship and hopes to strengthen connections between the Italian and American research communities.
Research Focus
Nicoletta Cieri's laboratory investigates the molecular basis of human alloreactivity, the immune response that occurs when T cells recognize genetically distinct tissues. This process is central to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, a potentially curative treatment for blood cancers, where donor T cells can eliminate residual leukemia but also cause graft-versus-host disease, a major source of morbidity and mortality.
Her research integrates computational genomics, immunogenetics, and experimental T cell immunology to identify the molecular targets of alloreactive T cells, known as alloantigens. Her laboratory develops scalable computational frameworks to predict alloantigens from donor and recipient genomic information and experimental approaches to characterize their recognition by human T cells.
By uncovering the genetic and antigenic architecture of alloreactivity, her research aims to move transplantation beyond conventional donor matching toward a more precise, biologically informed assessment of immune compatibility. Ultimately, this work could enable improved donor selection, individualized prediction of transplant complications, and the development of targeted immunotherapies that preserve beneficial antileukemic immunity while minimizing damage to healthy tissues.
About Her Nicoletta Cieri is an Italian physician-scientist who recently established her independent laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her research bridges computational genomics, T cell immunology, and clinical transplantation, with the goal of translating fundamental discoveries into improved cancer treatments. As she builds her research group, she is particularly interested in connecting with talented and motivated early-career scientists, including prospective postdoctoral fellows with backgrounds in immunology, computational biology, or genomics. She welcomes opportunities for scientific collaboration and mentorship and hopes to strengthen connections between the Italian and American research communities.
LUDOVICA MARANDO
Ludovica Marando, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and a physician-scientist specializing in hematologic malignancies. Her research focuses on understanding the earliest stages of leukemia development, with the goal of identifying opportunities to prevent malignant transformation.
Dr. Marando received her medical degree from the University of Naples Federico II and completed her clinical and academic training in hematology at the University of Cambridge, where she was awarded a Wellcome Clinical PhD Fellowship to investigate the biology of clonal hematopoiesis. She subsequently joined Mayo Clinic as an Advanced Myeloid Malignancies Fellow, combining clinical care with translational research in myeloid neoplasms.
At Baylor College of Medicine, her research focuses on how clonal hematopoiesis evolves into myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia, particularly following cancer therapy. Her current work investigates TP53-mutant clonal hematopoiesis and the molecular events that precede therapy-related myeloid neoplasms, with the long-term goal of developing strategies to identify and therapeutically intercept high-risk preleukemic clones before overt leukemia develops.
Research Focus
Dr. Marando’s research focuses on understanding how apparently healthy blood cells acquire genetic changes that can eventually lead to leukemia. She is particularly interested in clonal hematopoiesis, a condition in which blood-forming stem cells carrying leukemia-associated mutations expand in otherwise healthy individuals.
Her current work investigates why some of these clones remain harmless for years, while others progress to aggressive blood cancers. She focuses particularly on cancer survivors, in whom chemotherapy and radiation can select mutant blood stem cells and, in some cases, contribute to the development of therapy-related myeloid neoplasms—devastating leukemias that remain extremely difficult to treat.
By identifying the molecular changes that distinguish stable from high-risk clones, Dr. Marando aims to recognize patients at greatest risk before leukemia develops and uncover vulnerabilities that could be therapeutically targeted. Her long-term goal is to shift the management of these diseases from treating established leukemia to detecting and intercepting its evolution at a preleukemic stage.
About Her Ludovica Marando is an Italian physician-scientist who has built her career across Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She is passionate about bridging clinical hematology and laboratory research to address questions that arise directly from patient care. Her research is driven by a simple goal: to understand leukemia early enough to prevent it. She is particularly committed to developing an independent research program focused on clonal hematopoiesis and leukemia interception, while mentoring the next generation of physician-scientists and fostering scientific collaborations across institutions and countries.
LUCA PARUZZO
Luca Paruzzo, MD, is a physician-scientist focused on T-cell–mediated immunotherapies for hematologic malignancies. He completed his Hematology/Oncology training at the University of Torino in Italy, followed by postdoctoral training in translational cellular therapy research in Dr. Marco Ruella’s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. He will continue his work at the University of Pennsylvania as an Instructor of Medicine beginning in November 2026. His research focuses on CAR T-cell efficacy, toxicity, long-term outcomes, and strategies to improve access to cellular therapies, with the goal of making these treatments more effective, personalized, and broadly available to patients with hematologic malignancies.
Research Focus
Luca Paruzzo’s research focuses on understanding how to make CAR T-cell therapy more effective, safer, and accessible for patients with hematologic malignancies. His work integrates clinical data with longitudinal patient samples and advanced translational approaches to study the biological factors that determine treatment response, toxicity, immune recovery, and long-term remission.
A major focus of his research is understanding why some patients achieve durable benefit while others relapse or experience severe immune-related complications. By identifying the mechanisms associated with these outcomes, his work aims to improve patient selection, guide clinical management, and inform the development of next-generation cellular therapies.
His research is important because CAR T-cell therapy can produce remarkable and sometimes long-lasting remissions in otherwise treatment-resistant cancers, but its benefits remain uneven. Improving efficacy and safety, while reducing barriers to access, is essential to ensure that cellular therapy evolves from a highly specialized treatment into a more broadly available and personalized therapeutic platform.
About Him
Luca Paruzzo is an Italian physician-scientist driven by the opportunity to translate scientific discovery into meaningful improvements in patient care. Beyond his research in cellular immunotherapy, he is passionate about building collaborative bridges between Italy and the United States and about mentoring young physicians interested in combining clinical medicine with research. He values curiosity, teamwork, and the exchange of ideas across disciplines and countries. His long-term goal is to develop an independent research program that advances cellular therapies while contributing to a scientific community in which the next generation of physician-scientists can thrive.
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