Lunch Talk Series with Michela Cortesi – From Preclinical Models to Translational Insights: Organoids for Functional Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer
Our upcoming Lunch Talk will be hosted by Stefanie Bärthel, Group Leader (Team NST) from BioMed X, and will feature Michela Cortesi, Researcher from Translational Oncology Unit.
- Topic: From Preclinical Models to Translational Insights: Organoids for Functional Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer.
- Location: DKFZ Communication Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg.
Lunch Talk Description:
Pancreatic cancer is among the most aggressive malignancies, with limited therapeutic options and high resistance rates. Addressing this challenge requires models that capture both disease mechanisms and patient heterogeneity. Michela’s research has progressed from studying stress-response pathways in traditional preclinical models to developing patient-derived organoids and liquid biopsy approaches, and now to integrating these tools into functional precision medicine strategies. At the Translational Oncology Unit of IRST-IRCCS, she works as part of a team advancing patient-derived models and translational approaches aimed at improving tumor characterization and, ultimately, supporting more personalized treatments.
In this talk, she will present the team’s efforts in developing pancreatic cancer organoids and liquid biopsy approaches and discuss how these translational tools can contribute to the advancement of precision medicine.
About Michela Cortesi:
Michela is a researcher at the Translational Oncology Unit of the Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori “Dino Amadori” (IRST-IRCCS), where she focuses on developing translational tools to support precision medicine in solid tumors.
During her PhD in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, she investigated sigma receptor modulators as potential anticancer agents, gaining expertise in cell biology, pharmacology, and molecular mechanisms. This training provided her with a deep understanding of the opportunities and limitations of traditional preclinical models.
Building on this background, her current research is fully dedicated to translational oncology. She has contributed to the development of patient-derived pancreatic cancer organoids and liquid biopsy approaches as platforms for drug testing and biomarker discovery. Currently, she serves as the coordinator of the European ACCELERATE project (TRANSCAN-3, 2024), which integrates organoid-based assays, omics, and computational approaches to advance functional precision medicine.
Her primary interest lies in bridging experimental oncology and clinical practice by developing models and approaches that support more personalized cancer treatment strategies.