Andrea Ballabio joins MENTOR Program to Advance mTOR Research

We are proud to announce that Andrea Ballabio is part of the prestigious MENTOR Program, a multi-disciplinary doctoral training network dedicated to studying the mTOR signaling pathway—a key regulator of cell growth and metabolism. 

The MENTOR Program 

The MENTOR Program is an EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) initiative designed to foster and train doctoral candidates on the metabolic control of cell growth by the mTOR signaling pathway. This pathway is a central signaling hub that integrates nutritional cues and controls cell growth and metabolism. Aberrant mTOR activity is implicated in a wide range of pathologies, including age-related diseases such as cancer, obesity, and diabetes, as well as rare genetic conditions termed mTORopathies, characterized by tumor formation, polycystic kidneys, and brain manifestations.  

The program aims to involve 18 doctoral candidates with the overall goal of understanding and treating mTORopathies while maximizing the impact on research and training for cancer, metabolic syndromes, and age-related diseases. By gaining new mechanistic insights into mTORopathies, the program seeks to improve treatments for individuals living with rare conditions through personalized medicine strategies and to open new therapeutic avenues for severe age-related pathologies.  

About Andrea Ballabio 

Professor Ballabio obtained his M.D. degree from the University of Naples, where he also completed his residency in Pediatrics. He furthered his research career with postdoctoral work at the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics in Naples and at Guy’s Hospital in London. In 1989, he moved to the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he became Associate Professor and Co-director of the Human Genome Center. In 1994, he returned to Italy to become the founding director of the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM).  

Throughout his illustrious career, Professor Ballabio has published over 360 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and contributed to 19 chapters in prestigious international books. He has been a member of numerous committees for international bodies, including the European Commission, the European Research Council, and the EMBO Council. His groundbreaking work in understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling lysosomal function has earned him several accolades, such as the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine in 2016 and the Feltrinelli Prize in Biology in 2021. 

Professor Ballabio's Role in MENTOR 

As a principal investigator within the MENTOR network, Professor Ballabio will contribute his extensive expertise in lysosomal biology and genetic research to advance our understanding of mTOR signaling and its implications in various diseases. His involvement underscores the program's commitment to excellence and its multidisciplinary approach to tackling complex biomedical challenges. 

We look forward to the innovative research and discoveries that will emerge from this collaboration and the positive impact it will have on the scientific community and patients worldwide. 

🔗Read more about MENTOR- program here