Interview

Science Communication Team: To what extent do interdisciplinary collaboration and sharing knowledge play a role in your research?

Davide Seruggia: Collaboration and knowledge exchange are fundamental to today’s science. It is unrealistic for one investigator to master all the disciplines that are necessary for a big discovery in science, including cell biology, genomics, statistics, mathematical modeling, polymer physics… But through collaboration, all these skills come together in one group of collaborative scientists.

Science Communication Team: To what extent has the importance of collaboration changed due to technological progress?

Davide Seruggia: I believe the complexity of both science and technology has been increasing constantly. Hence, collaboration was important in the past and will continue to be important in the future. Those are two parallel lines that should never cross. This way, research will always benefit and lean towards new, more complex, more accurate technology.

Science Communication Team: Which specific projects or research topics connect you and your research group with other groups within St. Anna CCRI?

Davide Seruggia: Together with the Halbritter group, we are combining hematopoietic stem cell differentiation with genomics and machine learning to learn better ways of obtaining mature cells in vitro. With the Boztug group, we are creating mouse models carrying the exact same mutations found in individuals with rare diseases. With the Grebien group we are focusing on a family of DNA-binding proteins and we are using sophisticated genome editing to study their role in AML. Our group is particularly interested in profiling the epigenome, and we often help other investigators at St. Anna CCRI that are interested in setting up assays for their experiments. As our group has access and expertise with mouse models, we collaborate with the Tomazou group in testing new models of Ewing Sarcoma in vivo.  

Science Communication Team: What do you appreciate about working with the other groups?

Davide Seruggia: Collaboration multiplies research output. Scientific questions can be answered faster and in a more precise way, if you count on your expertise and on that of collaborators in the building. In addition, collaboration forces us to be more rigorous with our science.

Science Communication Team: What advice do you have for young researchers who are just starting to build up a network?

Davide Seruggia: What triggers collaboration is curiosity, generosity and communication. To start the engine of collaborative work, one must first offer help to a colleague that might benefit from an idea or a technology you master. The next time, maybe help will come spontaneously to your door.

Science Communication Team: How would you rate the importance of international cooperation for the success of your research group?

Davide Seruggia: International collaborations are highly important. My group is involved in a large consortium focused on gene regulation, the NIH IGVF. Through that, we are exposed to state-of-the-art science and technology of the field, world-wide. Sometimes we have to adjust our schedule and align with the time differences, but it is absolutely worth the effort. In the context of pediatric leukemia and particular subtypes we are interested, international collaboration is key in order to access to information, and widen our cohorts and sample size.