Dr. Ernesto Guccione is a distinguished scientist and leading authority in cancer epigenetics with a distinguished career bridging basic science and therapeutic development. He currently serves as a Full Professor with tenure in Oncological Sciences and Pharmacological Sciences at the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, where he directs the Center for OncoGenomics and Innovative Therapeutics and serves as Associate Director of the Center for Therapeutics Discovery. Following his B.S./M.S. in Medical Biotechnology from the University of Bologna in 2000, he earned his PhD in Molecular Genetics from SISSA/ICGEB in Trieste in 2004, followed by postdoctoral training at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan under Bruno Amati. Dr. Guccione established his independent research program at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore in 2008, where he was promoted to Research Director before transitioning to Mount Sinai in 2019 to expand his translational research initiatives.
Dr. Guccione has established himself as a pioneering investigator in the field of arginine methylation, with his laboratory making seminal contributions to understanding oncogenic Protein Methyltransferases including PRMT6, PRMT5, EZH2, and multiple PRDM family members across various cancer types. His multidisciplinary research integrates advanced biochemical techniques, molecular biology, and preclinical oncology studies using sophisticated mouse models of lymphoma, leukemia, and solid tumors alongside patient-derived tumor organoids. The Guccione laboratory has developed innovative approaches to dissect transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that drive malignant transformation, with particular focus on exploiting these epigenetic pathways for therapeutic intervention. His work has significantly advanced the understanding of how epigenetic modifiers function as oncogenic drivers, establishing new paradigms for targeting these mechanisms in clinical applications.
Beyond his research contributions, Dr. Guccione serves as Co-Director of the Bioinformatics for Next Generation Sequencing (BiNGS) Shared Research Resource at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, providing essential computational and statistical analysis for Mount Sinai-affiliated faculty members conducting genomics research. He actively collaborates with international research groups and pharmaceutical partners to translate fundamental discoveries into clinical applications, with a current focus on advancing innovative targeted therapies through the drug development pipeline. Dr. Guccione's laboratory maintains a strong commitment to mentoring the next generation of cancer researchers while fostering interdisciplinary collaborations that bridge basic science, bioinformatics, and clinical oncology. His strategic vision continues to shape the evolving landscape of cancer epigenetics research as he leads efforts to identify and validate novel therapeutic targets with the potential to transform cancer treatment paradigms.
