Mariarosaria De Rosa, PhD, is a new faculty member at UNMC.
Title and department: Tenure-track assistant professor, Eppley Institute for Cancer Research and the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, UNMC
Hometown: Sant’Egidio del Monte Albino, in the province of Salerno, Italy – a small town 10 minutes from the ancient ruins of Pompei and 30 minutes from the Amalfi Coast.
Education:
- PhD, molecular medicine and medical biotechnology, University Federico II of Naples, Italy
- MS, medical biotechnology, University Federico II of Naples, Italy
- BS, health biotechnologies, University Federico II of Naples, Italy
Research and professional interests: My research investigates how oxidative DNA damage, particularly 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) and its base excision repair (BER) intermediates, shape transcriptional responses to environmental and physiological oxidative stress, with downstream effects on genome stability and cell fate. I want to define how oxidative guanine damage influences cellular adaptability and promotes cancer-associated and inflammatory gene expression programs.
How I became interested in cancer research: My interest in medical research took root in high school, through the study of biology and chemistry, and sharpened during college, shifting toward becoming a cancer researcher, as I learned more about the molecular drivers of cancer development and progression.
My motivation is scientific as well as personal. I grew up in the Sarno river area of Campania, southern Italy, a region known as the “Land of Fires” (Terra dei Fuochi) for its unusually high cancer rates, a legacy of decades of illegal toxic waste dumping by organized crime. I watched many people in my community get sick, including my father, who died of pancreatic cancer. My grandfathers both died of lung cancer before I was old enough to remember them. This is why I’ve devoted my career to understanding the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, especially its environmental drivers, and to contributing to new therapies, diagnostics and prevention strategies.
Professional memberships:
- Active member, Environmental Mutagenesis & Genomics Society, 2020 – Present
- Active member, American Association for Cancer Research, 2026 – Present
- Member, Editorial Board of Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 2026 – Present
Three things people may not know about me:
- I run marathons. I took up running when I moved to Pittsburgh for my postdoc, and since 2019 I’ve completed several half marathons, 10Ks, 5Ks, and two full marathons. Running is one of my happy places, especially when I am with my run club friends; however, it is on my solo runs that I get most of my experimental and research ideas!
- I was a singer before I became a scientist. I started performing at weddings and festivals with my brother at age 11, and singing gigs helped pay my way through college. Singing is still one of my greatest passions: you might occasionally hear me singing in the lab late at night or on weekends, while doing experiments (never during attention-intensive or sterile procedures!).
- I’m an experimentalist at home, too. I bake sourdough bread with a starter I’ve kept alive for the past four years, which is basically my “at-home” yeast culture I tend to when I am not taking care of cell cultures in the lab. As a true Italian, I enjoy making fresh pasta and pizza, and grow tomatoes for my own homemade sauce.