Maria Prencipe

Maria was awarded her PhD in Cancer Biology from University College Dublin in 2010. She is currently based at the Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research at UCD, where she co-leads the Cancer Biology and Therapeutics Laboratory. She has nearly 20 years’ experience as a cancer researcher, with a strong focus on mechanisms of resistance to drug therapy in hormone-driven cancers. Her research centres on the identification and characterisation of cancer signalling pathways as targets for the development of more effective and less toxic therapeutic strategies.
Maria has a strong track record in public and patient involvement (PPI) in cancer research. She has previously served on the steering committee of the Patient Voice in Cancer Research (https://www.ucd.ie/patientvoicecancer/) and has established a number of PPI partnerships to enhance the relevance and impact of her work. She currently serves on the Executive Council of the Irish Association for Cancer Research (IACR) as Grants Officer and PPI Liaison, contributing to strategic initiatives that support the integration of the patient voice into cancer research.
She has also contributed to the co-development of national initiatives that integrate art, research, and patient perspectives to promote inclusivity and public engagement in cancer research, including the recent Cut from the Same Cloth (https://cutfromthesamecloth.org/) and Behind Walls initiatives (https://www.aicri.org/behindwalls). In addition, Maria is actively involved in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) leadership within academia and is committed to fostering collaborative and inclusive research environments.