Born in the province of Alessandria, Annamaria Aprile also graduated from the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, in Medical Biotechnology, took a PhD in Rome-Tor Vergata and then returned to the IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, in the direct unit by Giuliana Ferrari at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy. Aprile's work comes out of the oncology field and concerns a rare genetic blood disease, beta thalassemia, very common in the Mediterranean area. In beta thalassemia red blood cells are incapable - due to a genetic mutation - of transporting oxygen efficiently. Aprile's research showed for the first time that even blood stem cells - from which red blood cells are derived - behave abnormally in sick patients. According to the first results obtained by the group, modifying the bone marrow microenvironment, in which these cells live, could constitute a new therapeutic strategy.