Dr. Andrea Facciabene

Dr. Andrea Facciabene has focused on advancing cancer immunotherapy by translating mechanistic discoveries into clinically relevant strategies. He began his career at the IRBM, where he contributed to the development of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-targeted immunotherapies that advanced to Phase I clinical trials, establishing a strong foundation in translational oncology. In 2006, he joined the Ovarian Cancer Research Center, where he contributed to seminal studies defining mechanisms of tumor immune evasion, including endothelial exclusion of effector T cells and hypoxia-driven recruitment of regulatory T cells, with work published in Nature Medicine and Nature and translated into early-phase clinical trials. Since joining the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2016, his research has focused on the intersection of radiotherapy and systemic immunity, with particular emphasis on the gut microbiome as a key regulator of radiotherapy responses. His group demonstrated that modulation of the gut microbiota with vancomycin enhances the immunogenic effects of radiotherapy, promoting both local and systemic tumor control, and provided clinical evidence supporting this strategy in patients