Erika M. Palmieri, PhD
- Center for Cancer Research
- National Cancer Institute
- Bldg. 560, Room 31-16A
- Frederick, MD 21702
- 301-846-1946
- erikamariana.palmieri@nih.gov
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Dr. Palmieri is engaged in the study of the basic fundamentals of the physiology of macrophages in terms of the metabolic ways and carbon routes preferentially used in pro-inflammatory activation with combinations of metabolomics, expression analysis, biochemical assays, carbon tracing and mass spectrometry techniques, with a focus on Nitric Oxide biology
Areas of Expertise
Erika M. Palmieri, PhD
Research
In my work I have been responsible for dissecting the basic fundamentals of the physiology of macrophages in terms of the metabolic pathways and carbon routes preferentially used during their different types of activation. I am engaged in the study of integrated metabolic pathways that are required for the synthesis of immunometabolites such as nitric oxide and itaconate, and I investigate physiological and pathological scenarios where macrophages metabolically change, are metabolically conditioned by the environment they are in, and where they sculpt that environment to impact the function of other cells. My seminal findings thus far have been of substantial impact. As the Director of the CIL Metabolomics Facility. I carry out fundamental, original research and manage and execute multiple collaborative projects within NCI and NIH. As part of these projects, I continue to gain experience as I develop tools to further probe cellular metabolic rewiring, in the hopes of identifying targets that could be exploited to educate cells of the immune system and metabolically "condition" environments as part of cancer therapy.
Biography
Erika M. Palmieri, PhD
Erika Palmieri obtained a Bachelor and Masters degree in Medical Biotechnologies from the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Italy. She then started her PhD in Biochemical and Pharmacological Sciences in the team of Alessadra Castegna where she focused on examining metabolites as mediators of the inflammatory response and implementing mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods for metabolic studies, and obtained her PhD in 2015. She successfully competed and received a short term fellowship from the European Molecular Biology Organization(EMBO) to finish her doctorate work at the VIB Research center in Leuven, Belgium in the group of Massimiliano Mazzone. As a postdoctoral fellow, Erika Palmieri joined the Cancer and inflammation program in the laboratory of Dan McVicar at the National cancer institute (NCI) in Frederick, Maryland, USA where she studied the basic fundamentals of the physiology of macrophages. In 2022 she became staff scientist leading collaborations intra and inter-NIH institutes on the topic of metabolic reprogramming through analysis by MS.
Dr. Palmieri is a recipient of many awards from societies of biochemistry and immunology as well as of the NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) and of the empowerment award from Females in Mass Spectrometry (FeMS). In her academic and research career, she authored and co-authored multiple publications in studies of energetics in physiological and pathological conditions, which have been crucial for advancing the immunometabolism field.
Publications
- Bibliography Link
- NCBI
- ORCID
- Google Scholar