Dr. Mario Notari’s research career to date has primarily been focused on the intracellular signalling pathways that are at the basis of cancer development. With a background in medical biotechnology, molecular biology and cancer research he obtained his Master´s Degree while employed as a research associate at Ohio State University, Columbus (USA) and Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia (USA). There, he studied the role of a RNA binding protein named hnRNA K and its relation with the leukemogenic process induced by the BCR/ABL oncoprotein. He obtained his PhD degree at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) Oxford Branch at the University of Oxford (UK), under the supervision of the Branch’s Director Professor Xin Lu. At the LICR, he investigated the functional and biological role of a protein called iASPP in vivo, using an inducible knock-out (KO) mouse as a model system. The identification of the iASPP family of proteins by Professor Xin Lu, of which iASPP is one of three family members, has led to the discovery of novel mechanisms that selectively regulate the apoptotic but not the cell-cycle arrest function of p53. To further investigate iASPP’s functions in vivo, they generated a KO mouse in which iASPP has been genetically silenced. Physiologically, iASPP KO mice showed severe dilated cardiomyopathy affecting the right ventricle of the organ, making them a novel in vivo model for the pre-clinical study of cardiovascular disease. Pathogenesis, progression and mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular disease observed were extensively investigated at both the cellular and molecular level. Defects in hair growth and impaired epidermal stratification were also noted and investigated as part of a full comprehensive analysis of the phenotypes of the mice. Dr. Mario Notari joined the CMRB in December 2012 to investigate the regenerative potential of the mammalian heart by understanding the signalling pathways that induce cell cycle re-entry of adult cardiomyocyte.

Intracellular signalling pathways