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Filippo Veglia, Ph.D.

  • Assistant Professor, Genome Regulation and Cell Signaling Program, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center

Dr. Filippo Veglia is an expert in myeloid cell biology, cancer immunology, and tumor metabolism. He is dedicated to advancing cancer research by developing innovative, immune-based approaches to improve treatment and patient outcomes.

Dr. Veglia earned his Ph.D. in Immunology and Applied Biotechnology from Tor Vergata University in Rome, Italy. He completed his postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Dmitry Gabrilovich at The Wistar Institute. In 2020, he was appointed Assistant Member at Moffitt Cancer Center in the Department of Immuno-Oncology and joined the Neuro-Oncology Program. He returned to Wistar in December 2023 as an Assistant Professor in the Immunology, Microenvironment and Metastasis Program and, in 2024, also became part of the Genome Regulation and Cell Signaling Program.

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The Veglia Laboratory

215-898-3926
fveglia@wistar.org

The Veglia Laboratory

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the deadliest form of brain cancer, known for its ability to shut down the immune system and resist treatment. A major reason for this is the presence of myeloid cells—immune cells that, under the influence of the tumor environment, are reprogrammed to support the cancer instead of fighting it.

Our lab studies how the tumor microenvironment reprograms the metabolism and function of these myeloid cells. By uncovering the shared pathways that drive their immunosuppressive behavior, we aim to find new ways to target them, restore the body’s natural immune defenses, and make immunotherapy more effective against brain cancer.

Staff
  • Staff Scientist

    Alessandra De Leo, Ph.D.

  • Postdoctoral Fellows

    Barbara Peixoto, Ph.D.
    Alessio Ugolini, Ph.D.

Available Positions

  • Postdoctoral fellow and research assistant positions are available in the Veglia Laboratory. Candidates should have recently received or be close to obtaining their Ph.D. degree or equivalent (for postdoc) or B.S. degree or equivalent (for RA) and have a strong background in in immunology, tumor microenvironment, and molecular biology. Interested applicants are invited to email: fveglia@wistar.org

Staff
  • Staff Scientist

    Alessandra De Leo, Ph.D.

  • Postdoctoral Fellows

    Alessio Ugolini, Ph.D.

  • Predoctoral Trainees

    Filippo Badii

Available Positions

  • Learn about job opportunities at The Wistar Institute here.

Lab in the News

Selected Publications

Protocol to study the genomic profile of histone lactylation with CUT&RUN assay in tumor-associated macrophages

Alessandra De Leo, Alessio Ugolini, Filippo Veglia. Protocol to study the genomic profile of histone lactylation with CUT&RUN assay in tumor-associated macrophages. STAR Protocols. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2025.103766. PMID: 40220301 PMCID: PMC12018546

Functional Reprogramming of Neutrophils within the Brain Tumor Microenvironment by Hypoxia-Driven Histone Lactylation

Alessio Ugolini, Alessandra De Leo, Xiaoqing Yu, Fabio Scirocchi, Xiaoxian Liu; Barbara Peixoto, Delia Scocozza, Angelica Pace, Michela Perego, Alessandro Gardini, Luca D’Angelo, James K.C. Liu, Arnold B. Etame, Aurelia Rughetti, Marianna Nuti, Antonio Santoro, Michael A. Vogelbaum, Jose R. Conejo-Garcia, Paulo C. Rodriguez, Filippo Veglia. Functional Reprogramming of Neutrophils within the Brain Tumor Microenvironment by Hypoxia-Driven Histone Lactylation. Cancer Discov (2025) 15 (6): 1270–1296. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-1056. PMID: 40014923

Glucose-driven histone lactylation promotes the immunosuppressive activity of monocyte-derived macrophages in glioblastoma

De Leo A, Ugolini A, Yu X, Scirocchi F, Scocozza D, Peixoto B, Pace A, D’Angelo L, Liu JKC, Etame AB, Rughetti A, Nuti M, Santoro A, Vogelbaum MA, Conejo-Garcia JR, Rodriguez PC, Veglia F. Glucose-driven histone lactylation promotes the immunosuppressive activity of monocyte-derived macrophages in glioblastoma. Immunity. 2024 Apr 30:S1074-7613(24)00211-5. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.04.006. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38703775.

Analysis of classical neutrophils and polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells in cancer patients and tumor-bearing mice

Veglia F, Hashimoto A, Dweep H, Sanseviero E, De Leo A, Tcyganov E, Kossenkov A, Mulligan C, Nam B, Masters G, Patel J, Bhargava V, Wilkinson P, Smirnov D, Sepulveda MA, Singhal S, Eruslanov EB, Cristescu R, Loboda A, Nefedova Y, Gabrilovich DI. Analysis of classical neutrophils and polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells in cancer patients and tumor-bearing mice. J Exp Med. 2021 Apr 5;218(4):e20201803. doi: 10.1084/jem.20201803. PMID: 33566112; PMCID: PMC7879582.

Polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells limit antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells in cancer

Ugolini A, Tyurin VA, Tyurina YY, Tcyganov EN, Donthireddy L, Kagan VE, Gabrilovich DI, Veglia F. Polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells limit antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells in cancer. JCI Insight. 2020 Aug 6;5(15):e138581. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.138581. PMID: 32584791; PMCID: PMC7455061.

Fatty acid transport protein 2 reprograms neutrophils in cancer

Veglia F, Tyurin VA, Blasi M, De Leo A, Kossenkov AV, Donthireddy L, To TKJ, Schug Z, Basu S, Wang F, Ricciotti E, DiRusso C, Murphy ME, Vonderheide RH, Lieberman PM, Mulligan C, Nam B, Hockstein N, Masters G, Guarino M, Lin C, Nefedova Y, Black P, Kagan VE, Gabrilovich DI. Fatty acid transport protein 2 reprograms neutrophils in cancer. Nature. 2019 May;569(7754):73-78. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1118-2. Epub 2019 Apr 17. PMID: 30996346; PMCID: PMC6557120.

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