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Dr Federica Begalli

Federica

Lecturer in Endocrinology

Centre: Endocrinology

Email: f.begalli@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7478-0252, LinkedIn 

Federica obtained her BSc in Biotechnology and her MSc cum laude in Medical, Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology from La Sapienza University of Rome. She obtained her PhD in Biomedical Technologies in Clinical Medicine from La Sapienza University of Rome as part of a joint project with Imperial College London.

Federica held her first post-doctoral position at Imperial College London, where she secured funding for her own project with Bloodwise and she started teaching in the MSc Program in Molecular Medicine. During her PhD and her first post-doc, Federica developed a passion for translational science. Following this led her to a second post-doc in Marta Korbonits’ laboratory at Queen Mary University of London, where she started a collaboration with ONO Pharmaceutical and secured two rounds of funding for their collaborative projects. At QMUL, Federica also started lecturing and teaching PBLs as part of the BSc in Pharmacology and Innovative Therapeutics, as well as the MBBS, and she obtained the Fellowship of Higher Education Academy in 2020.

Since January 2023, Federica is a Lecturer in Endocrinology and Education Lead for the Centre for Endocrinology. She co-leads two modules in Endocrine Physiology and Biochemistry.

Federica is member of the British Society for Endocrinology, the European Society of Endocrinology, European Neuroendocrine Association.

Research

Federica’s main research interest is to unveil the molecular mechanisms behind tumour development and progression and use her findings in clinical applications. Her research focuses on Non-Functioning Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumours, where she is developing novel biomarkers as well as therapeutic strategies. She works closely with clinicians and pharmaceutical companies to achieve these goals.

Key Publications

Full list of publications

  1. Capece D*, D'Andrea D*, Begalli F, Goracci L, Tornatore L, Alexander J, Di Veroli A, Leow S, Ellis JK, Verzella D, Bennet J, Savino L, McKenzie J, Doria ML, Mason M, Chng KR, Keun HC, Broniowska K, Stunkel W, Takats Z, Kinross J, Cruciani G, and Franzoso G. Enhanced triacylglycerol catabolism by Carboxylesterase 1 promotes aggressive colorectal carcinoma. J Clin Invest (2021) 131(11):e137845
  2. Verzella D*, Bennett J*, Fischietti M*, Thotakura AK*, Recordati C, Pasqualini F, Capece D, Vecchiotti D, D'Andrea D, Di Francesco B, De Maglie M, Begalli F, Tornatore L, Papa S, Lawrence T, Forbes SJ, Sica A, Alesse E, Zazzeroni F, and Franzoso G. GADD45beta Loss Ablates Innate Immunosuppression in Cancer. Cancer Res (2018) 78, 1275-1292
  3. Begalli F, Bennett J, Capece D, Verzella D, D'Andrea D, Tornatore L, and Franzoso G. Unlocking the NF-kappaB Conundrum: Embracing Complexity to Achieve Specificity. Biomedicines (2017) 22;5(3):50
  4. Miele E, Po A, Begalli F, Antonucci L, Mastronuzzi A, Marras CE, Carai A, Cucchi D, Abballe L, Besharat ZM, Catanzaro G, Infante P, Di Marcotullio L, Canettieri G, De Smaele E, Screpanti I, Locatelli F, and Ferretti E. Beta-arrestin1-mediated acetylation of Gli1 regulates Hedgehog/Gli signaling and modulates self-renewal of SHH medulloblastoma cancer stem cells. BMC Cancer (2017) 17, 488
  5. Po A, Begalli F, Abballe L, Alfano V, Besharat ZM, Catanzaro G, Vacca A, Napolitano M, Tafani M, Giangaspero F, Locatelli F, Ferretti E, and Miele E. Beta-Arrestin1/miR-326 Transcription Unit Is Epigenetically Regulated in Neural Stem Cells Where It Controls Stemness and Growth Arrest. Stem Cells Int (2017) 5274171

Sponsors

Collaborators

Internal
Prof Márta Korbonits; Dr Carles Gaston-Massuet; Dr Jack Williams, Giulia Mastroianni

External
Prof Peter McCormick; Mr Pinaki Dutta; Dr Ashutosh Rai

Teaching

Federica is Education Lead for the Department for Endocrinology.

She co-leads two modules in “Endocrinology Physiology and Biochemistry”, BMD311 in London and SNU303 in Nanchang, China. Furthermore, she contributes to other teaching modules in the School of Medicine and Dentistry, in the BSc in Pharmacology and Innovative Therapeutics, and in the Nanchang Joint Programme. 

Federica is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2020. 

She has been supervising and mentoring students as well as research staff since 2011, for a total of: 

  • 6 BSc students (primary supervisor)
  • 1 BMedSci student
  • 3 MSc students
  • 1 MRes student
  • 4 PhD students
  • 1 Laboratory Technician
  • 2 Post-doc Researchers

Disclosures

  • In 2021 – 2023 Dr Federica Begalli has received a project grant funding from ONO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
  • In 2020 – 2021 Dr Federica Begalli has received a project grant funding from ONO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
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