Gene and stem cell therapy During the association with the laboratories of San Raffaele Science Park, I. Saggio has been involved in the study of stem cells and contributed to unravel the characterization of stem cell progenitors as organizers of the hematopoietic microenvironment (Sacchetti et al Cell 2007; Sacchetti et al Stem cell reports 2016). In addition, I. Saggio laboratory has experience in vectors for gene and cell therapies, including lentiviral, adenoviral and humanized phages (patented WO 02/24934). I. Saggio developed growth factor antagonists and expressed them with adenoviral vectors as proof of principle studies of disease customized gene therapy (Saggio et al Gene therapy 1997; Di Marco et al PNAS 1996; and patent on viral vectors WO 98/13383). Telomeres and mechanogenetics I. Saggio identified the first human telomere-associated factor linked with the nuclear envelope. Telomere dysfunction causes genome instability and is a driver of cancer and premature aging (Burla et al Plos Genetics 2015; Cenci et al Plos Genetics 2015; Burla et al Open Biology 2016; La Torre et al Aging Cell 2018, Chen et al. Cell Reports 2019). More recently, building on the link between telomeres and the nuclear envelope, I. Saggio developed new research focusing on the implication of nuclear integrity in aging and cancer. The model systems used by I. Saggio are primarily mammalian cells and mice. In addition, comparative studies were performed in D. melanogaster. Research by I. Saggio and the work of her group have been recognized internationally and she has been funded, as PI, based on open competition and peer reviewing, by national and international agencies, including, in the last 5 years, Telethon, the Progeria Research Foundation USA and AIRC. In a trans-kingdom perspective, our most recent program focuses on a comparative study in plants and mammals to identify common and possibly transplantable telomere-associated genes controlling aging and lifespan.