Julie Di Martino, Ph.D., is from the southwest region of France. She moved to Bordeaux, France to receive her college education before moving to New York City in 2016, shortly after graduating to complete a postdoctoral training at the Icahn school of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York focusing on the role of the extracellular matrix in cancer dormancy.

In 2020, Dr. Di Martino was awarded an Early Career Investigator Award from the METAvivor Foundation supporting breast cancer research to investigate the effect of ACE inhibitors on dormant cancer cells. Most recently, she was awarded the 2022 Rupert Timpl award from the International Society for Matrix Biology in recognition of her postdoctoral work recently published in Nature Cancer. Dr. Di Martino has published more than 20 publications in respected peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Cell Biology, Cancer Discovery, Nature, Nature Cancer, and Cell. Dr. Di Martino has trained numerous students in the last decade providing strong support and mentoring and is committed to train and mentor NYMC students from all levels. Joining New York Medical College as an assistant professor, her research will focus on Dormancy Escape and Cancer Metastasis using a combination of in vivo models and imaging technics.

Education

• M.S., Cellular and Molecular Genetics, University of Bordeaux
• Ph.D., Health and Life Sciences, Cellular Biology and Physiopathology, University of Bordeaux

Publications

• Mondal C, Gacha-Garay MJ, Larkin KA, et. al. "A proliferative to invasive switch is mediated by srGAP1 downregulation through the activation of TGF-β2 signaling." Cell reports, 40(12), (2022) 111358. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111358
• Di Martino JS, Nobre AR, Mondal C, et. al. "A tumor-derived type III collagen-rich ECM niche regulates tumor cell dormancy." Nature cancer, 3(1), (2022) 90-107. doi: 10.1038/s43018-021-00291-9
• Nobre AR, Risson E, Singh DK, et. al. "Bone marrow NG2(+)/Nestin(+) mesenchymal stem cells drive DTC dormancy via TGFβ2." Nature cancer, 2(3), (2021) 327-339. doi: 10.1038/s43018-021-00179-8
• Di Martino JS, Akhter T, Bravo-Cordero JJ, et. al. "Remodeling the ECM: Implications for Metastasis and Tumor Dormancy." Cancers, 13(19), (2021) . doi: 10.3390/cancers13194916
• Mondal C, Di Martino JS, Bravo-Cordero JJ, et. al. "Actin dynamics during tumor cell dissemination." International review of cell and molecular biology, 360(), (2021) 65-98. doi: 10.1016/bs.ircmb.2020.09.004
• Priem B, van Leent MMT, Teunissen AJP, et. al. "Trained Immunity-Promoting Nanobiologic Therapy Suppresses Tumor Growth and Potentiates Checkpoint Inhibition." Cell, 183(3), (2020) 786-801.e19. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.09.059
• Di Martino JS, Mondal C, Bravo-Cordero JJ, et. al. "Textures of the tumour microenvironment." Essays in biochemistry, 63(5), (2019) 619-629. doi: 10.1042/EBC20190019

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Recent Presentations

2022:

• Invited speaker, The key role of type III collagen in cancer dormancy, Monthly Metastasis Working Group, Weill Cornell Medicine, Meyer Cancer Center & Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, NY
• Invited speaker, Cancer dormancy: an ECM perspective Bordeaux Institute of Oncology seminar series 2022, Bordeaux France (online)
• Invited speaker, Cancer dormancy: an ECM perspective, Bench storming seminars, VHIO, Spain (online)
• Selected speaker, A tumor-derived type III collagen-rich ECM niche regulates tumor cell dormancy through a DDR1 STAT1 pathway EACR The structural microenvironment: Breaking down the walls of cancer 2022 (online)
• Selected speaker, A tumor-derived type III collagen-rich ECM niche regulates tumor cell dormancy through a DDR1 STAT1 pathway EACR Seed and Soil: In Vivo Models of Metastasis 2022 (online)

2021:

• Selected speaker, A tumor-derived type III collagen-rich ECM niche regulates tumor cell dormancy Mechanical Forces and the 3D Sculpting of Cell-matrix Interactions and Tissues subgroup CELL BIO virtual 2021, online (selected from abstract)
• Selected speaker, The use of the Chicken Chorioallantoic Membrane model to study ECM Fibroblasts & ECM Remodeling session (Selected from abstract) ASMB The matrix in focus 2021, St Louis, Missouri, USA
• Selected speaker, A tumor cell self-made collagen III enriched ECM niche sustains cancer dormancy through a STAT1- DDR1 pathway MRD, Persister Cells and Dormancy Symposium (selected from abstract) EACR 2021 Innovative Cancer Science (Online)

2020:

• Selected speaker, Collagen III activates a DDR1-STAT1 signaling pathway in tumor cells leading to the assembly of a pro-dormant ECM niche Seed and Soil meeting, 3-minute Poster Spotlight presentation (Selected for best abstract ranking 1/125) Berlin, Germany

2019:

• Selected speaker, Collagen III activates a DDR1-STAT1 signaling pathway in tumor cells leading to the assembly of a pro-dormant ECM niche Seed and Soil meeting, 3-minute Poster Spotlight presentation (Selected for best abstract ranking 1/125) Berlin, Germany