Dr. Renata Pasqualini serves as Professor of Medicine and Inaugural Chief of the Division of Cancer Biology at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers University. Following postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School—carried out at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute—and at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, she joined the faculty at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. Her distinguished career reflects sustained contributions to cancer biology and translational research. Over 14 years at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, she held the Buchanan and Seeger Endowed Chair as Professor of Medicine and Experimental Diagnostic Imaging.

An internationally recognized expert in vascular biology, metastasis, and angiogenesis, Dr. Pasqualini co-developed in vivo phage display, pioneering the use of combinatorial peptide and antibody libraries to identify and leverage the molecular diversity of tumor and endothelial cell surfaces for targeted drug and gene delivery. Her research has been supported by the NIH, Department of Defense, and DARPA; she has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, is an inventor on numerous patents, and has served on review panels and advisory boards for leading U.S. and international organizations. She is a co-founder of MBrace Therapeutics and serves on its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Pasqualini earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of São Paulo and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.