Ilaria Malanchi

Ilaria Malanchi discovered the critical role of periostin in the metastatic niche, demonstrating that stromal-derived periostin is required for cancer stem cell maintenance and metastatic colonization by recruiting WNT ligands to sustain stem cell signaling in disseminated tumor cells. Her laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute investigates how tumor-stromal interactions at metastatic sites determine whether disseminated cancer cells establish productive metastatic colonies or remain dormant. Her work has revealed that the metastatic microenvironment actively supports or suppresses cancer stem cell properties in disseminated cells, providing new targets for preventing metastatic reactivation.