Valentina De Falco
Graduated in Classical Studies at the Liceo Classico T. Tasso in Salerno, Valentina De Falco obtained her degree in Chemistry (2002) at the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences of the “Federico II” University of Naples. At the same university, in 2007, she specialized in Clinical Pathology. In 2016, she received a Second-Level Master’s Degree in Dietetics and Human Nutrition at the “Federico II” in Naples, and in 2022 she attended the Advanced Training Course in Bioinformatics at the Department of Biochemical Sciences of the Sapienza University of Rome.
Since 2012, Valentina De Falco has been a Researcher at the National Research Council (CNR), currently working at the Institute of Endotypes in Oncology, Metabolism, and Immunology (IEOMI). From 2013 to 2022, she has been an adjunct professor at the “Federico II” University of Naples for the General Pathology Course and, from 2022 to 2024, for the Oncology Course. She has participated in the activities of academic bodies as a member of various committees and was part of the faculty board for the International Doctorate in Endocrinology and Molecular Oncology at the School of Molecular Medicine of the “Federico II” University of Naples. She is a reviewer for several ministerial projects and an evaluator for MiSE calls. Since 2018, she has been qualified to hold the position of associate professor for the competitive sectors 06/A2 General Pathology and Clinical Pathology and 05/F1 Applied Biology.
She is currently an adjunct professor of General Pathology at the UniCamillus University of Rome and a contract professor at the “Bicocca” University of Milan as part of the master’s program “qOmics: Quantitative Methods for Omics Data” belonging to the Bicocca Academy.
Since 2003 she has been the winner of several Scholarships and Research Grants, carrying out her scientific activity at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology and Pathology of the “Federico II” University of Naples. In 2007, she was a Visiting Scientist at the Claude Bernard University in Lyon (France), hosted by Dr. Billaud’s laboratory as part of the PHC Galilée 2007 Program, with a project to develop new therapeutic strategies on the targeting of the tyrosine kinase receptor RET in medullary thyroid carcinomas, and subsequently continued to collaborate for several years on research projects with various international groups from both Claude Bernard University in Lyon (France) and the University of Toronto (Canada). From 2010 to 2012, she was awarded a Research Grant at the CNR for a project funded by AstraZeneca to study, in thyroid tumor cells, the effects of the RET inhibitor vandetanib—the first drug approved in 2012 for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma.
Professor De Falco has over twenty years of research experience in Molecular Oncology, focusing on the study of the different dysregulated signal transduction mechanisms in tumor cells, with particular expertise in studies on the pathophysiology of the thyroid gland and the implications of targeted therapies on protein kinases and the development of resistance mechanisms to inhibitory compounds. She is currently investigating the involvement of the serine-threonine kinase p90RSK in resistance to conventional antitumor treatments and its role in the phenotype of different human tumor cells.
She has participated in several research projects funded by public and private institutions and is currently the Principal Investigator of a Project focused on the development of new inhibitors of the p90RSK kinase, in collaboration with the Department of Pharmacy of the “Federico II” University of Naples.
In 2017 the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei awarded her the International Prize “G. Salvatore” for excellence achieved in studies on the Physiopathology of the Thyroid Gland.
She is a member of the European Thyroid Association, the European Association for Cancer Research—where she serves as Ambassador—and the Italian Society of Cancerology. She is also a member of the Editorial Board of prestigious international journals such as International Journal of Molecular Science (MDPI), Frontiers in Immunology (Frontiers), and Oncology Research (Tech Science Press).
As of March 2025, Prof. De Falco has authored 40 publications in international peer-reviewed journals (citations: 2256; H-index: 24, Science Citation Index 2025), holding an active role in a high percentage of them.