Sara Lucia Giustina Sigismund

Sara Sigismund

Email	[email protected]
Telephone	+39 02 9437-5057 (lab) or -2662 (office)
Location	Building 13 Floor 3rd Via Adamello 16, Milano

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Member of

• Organelle Communication, Trafficking and Cancer - Group Leader
• Scientific Council - Member (Group Leader)

Sara Sigismund is Head of the Organelle Communication, Trafficking and Cancer Lab at the Dept. of Experimental Oncology, IEO.
She also holds the position of Associate Professor at the Dept. of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology at the University of Milan.
She earned her PhD in Life Sciences from the AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology (IFOM-ETS), Milan, in 2004, and has since dedicated her research to understanding the role of endocytosis in receptor signaling and cancer.
Her research has helped establish the concept that the integration of distinct endocytic routes determines the cellular signaling response. Notably, her work uncovered a novel mechanism of EGFR endocytosis – Non-Clathrin Endocytosis (NCE) – which is activated at high EGF concentrations and directs receptor to lysosomal degradation. EGFR-NCE involves interorganelle communication between the plasma membrane, endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria, suggesting that EGFR signaling may directly influence mitochondrial function, with potential implications for both normal physiology and cancer.
Prof. Sigismund is also investigating the role of the endocytic adaptor Epsin 3 in promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells, a key step in tumor progression that enhances cancer cell migration, invasion, and metastasis.
For her contributions to the field of endocytosis, Prof. Sigismund was elected a member of EMBO in 2022. Her research is supported by funding from the ERC, WCR, AIRC, and MIUR.