Roberta Zappasodi, PhD Parker Bridge Fellow Biography Roberta Zappasodi is an Assistant Professor of Hematology in Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology of the Department of Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and Visiting Investigator at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) in New York. Her research program in cancer immunotherapy involves: 1) the study of the immune microenvironment in the pathogenesis of B-cell lymphomas and in the response of these diseases to immunotherapy; 2) the role of B-cell responses in the anti-tumor activity of immune checkpoint blockade therapy; and 3) the definition of T-cell-mediated suppressive mechanisms as targets and biomarkers of immunotherapy. The overall goal of her research is to identify biomarkers of immune and anti-tumor activity with immediate clinical application and to improve the understanding of the mechanisms underlying resistance to immunotherapy. She is a Parker Bridge Fellow at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI). Dr. Zappasodi completed her PhD in Tumor Immunology/Immunotherapy at the National Cancer Institute of Milan (Milan, Italy) and was the recipient of PICI’s Parker Scholar award during her post-doctoral training at MSK in the Wolchok/Merghoub group. Education & Training 2013: Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, NY 2011: National Cancer Institute of Milan, PhD, Tumor Immunology, Immunotherapy 2005: Università di Bologna, MSc, Biotechnology Awards & Honors 2005: M.Sc. in Medical Biotechnology awarded with the highest honor (110/110 summa cum laude) 2006: Fondazione Michelangelo fellowship 2007: Fondazione Marco Semenza fellowship 2011: PhD awarded with highest distinction 2015: Ministry of Health Young Investigator Award 2015: AAI Trainee Award 2016: Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Scholar Award 2016: SITC Presidential Award 2017: SITC Sparkathon Award 2017: Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award 2017: SITC International Scholar Award 2018: ISSNAF IBM-Bio4 Dreams Award 2019: Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Bridge Scholar Award 2019: AACR-Bristol-Myers Squibb Scholar-in-Training Award 2020: AACR WICR Scholar in Cancer Research Award