Michela Perego on Life Inside & Outside of the Lab

Cellular biologist Michela Perego, Ph.D., was born in Monza, the capital city of Brianza, a northern Italian province well known for Formula One race car driving. She grew up in a family of non-scientists yet found her passion for science in high school. In her free time, she devotes herself to rock climbing & reading crime novels. Her favorites are by Harlan Coben.

Did you come from a family of scientists or race car drivers?

Nobody in my family is in science. Nobody. I’m the first of at least three generations to go to college. My family completed high school, known as a professional high school at the time, and then went to work. My dad worked in a bank for 43 years and my mom was a flight attendant, and then became a stay-at-home mom.

What drew you to science?

As a kid I was curious. My family reads widely and loves art, but they couldn’t answer my questions, so instead, they took me to the library to find answers in books. This was my first exposure to the scientific approach, which is the basis for scientific research: to form hypotheses & answer questions based on evidence from an experiment.

How did you arrive at Wistar?

In Italy, high schools are specialized. There is a high school for languages and a high school for sciences, etc., and they differ in rigor. Because of my curiosity and aptitude, I picked Liceo Scientifico Paolo Frisi. It was a demanding scientific high school but great preparation for university.

I stayed near my hometown for college and got a master’s in biology at Università Statale di Milano-Bicocca. The research was interesting and well-funded, so I was able to work with powerful instruments & new technology. That’s where I learned the flow cytometer— a specialty of mine.

After getting my Ph.D., I worked under a well-known melanoma scientist, and by chance, I reached out to Wistar’s Dr. Meenhard Herlyn to connect before attending a melanoma conference in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Herlyn & I connected, and he invited me to Philadelphia to interview and possibly join his lab. On my flight back home, he offered me a job. I landed in Philadelphia July 2012.

Now in the lab of Wistar president & CEO Dr. Dario Altieri, my focus is on what happens during the development of prostate cancer. Why does prostate cancer have no T cell infiltration to help fight the disease? That is the major obstacle to immunotherapy.

Tell me about your life outside the lab.

When I came to Philadelphia, I knew no one. I had enjoyed inline skating in Italy and took it up again as an opportunity to improve my English, see the city, and meet friends. After the pandemic, I started rock climbing—something I did with my family when I was a kid in Italy.