Maria Rescigno graduated in Biology in 1990 at the University of Milan. From 1991 to 1994 she worked at the University of Cambridge, UK, in the Department of Biochemistry, as a visiting scholar. From 1995 to 1999, she worked at the National Research Council of Milan where she received her PhD in Pharmacology and toxicology in 1999. From 1999 to 2001 she worked at the University of Milano-Bicocca where she specialized in Applied Biotechnology. Since 2001 she is the director of the Dendritic cell biology and immunotherapy Unit at the Department of Experimental Oncology at the European Institute of oncology. She was the first to show that dendritic cells in the gut actively participate to bacterial uptake. Her major field of interest is the development of new immunotherapy strategies to fight cancer. She authored more than 120 publications in high impact journals including Nature Immunol, Immunity, J. Exp. Med., Science. She was nominated EMBO young investigator in 2007. Since 2008 she is visiting professor at the University of Oslo. In 2011 Maria Rescigno won the Avon prize as ‘Woman symbol of the city of Milan’ and was elected EMBO member. From 2014 she is Associate Professor at the University of Milan.