The eighth Giovanna Tosi Scientific Day at Villa Toeplitz promotes cancer research, with a special focus on young researchers

The eighth Giovanna Tosi Scientific Day will take place on Friday, September 18, starting at 9 a.m. at Villa Toeplitz in Varese. The event is organised by the Giovanna Tosi Association for the Fight Against Cancer in collaboration with the University of Insubria.

The initiative is held in memory of Giovanna Tosi, who died prematurely in 2016, and reflects the Association’s main mission: to promote and support education and research in oncology, with a particular focus on young researchers.

The day will open with institutional addresses from the University and the Association, followed by the session dedicated to the Agtt Best Publication Awards, featuring three young researchers who received awards under the 2025 call: Camilla Albano, Alessia Potenza and Alessandra Zaza. This will be followed by a presentation by Sara Santi, recipient of the Agtt Mobility Programme Award, whose research focuses on new therapeutic strategies for malignant pleural mesothelioma.

A highlight of the day will be the presentation of the 2026 Giovanna Tosi Award for Excellence in Science to Professor Riccardo Dalla Favera of Columbia University in New York. Professor Dalla Favera will deliver the keynote lecture, “The Long Journey in the Genome of Human B Cell Lymphomas”.

The programme will continue in the afternoon with the “Pathology of Cancer” session, featuring presentations by Professor Francesco Acquati of the University of Insubria on the role of Human RNASET2 at the intersection of cancer, inflammation and neurodevelopment, and by Professor Mauro Tognon of the University of Ferrara on the role of MCPyV e HPV in Merkel cell carcinoma and oropharyngeal carcinoma, respectively.

The Giovanna Tosi Scientific Day is an opportunity to share the latest findings in cancer research and to highlight the work of a new generation of researchers, bringing together young scientists and internationally renowned figures from the scientific community.

The event will be held at Villa Toeplitz, Viale Giovanbattista Vico, Varese, from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.