Sonia Leonardelli

Sonia received her PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) from the group of Molecular Tumor Immunology in the Clinic for Dermatology at the University Hospital Essen (Germany), as part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Training Network. During her PhD studies she focused on the underlying molecular resistance mechanisms to immune checkpoint blockade therapy and targeted therapy in advanced metastatic melanoma.

Sonia joined the Hoelzel lab thanks to an MSSO postgraduate fellowship to study the immune cell interactions and spatial relationships of the immune tumor microenvironment contributing to therapy resistance in different types of cancers, using the advanced multiplex immunofluorescence technique CODEX and patient-derived organoids.