Biography
Francesco Marangoni, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the University of California, Irvine. He received his Ph.D. in Basic and Applied Immunology from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy, and completed postdoctoral training in immunology and intravital microscopy at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining UCI, he served as Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Assistant in Immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2013 to 2019.
Marangoni's research focuses on tumor immunology, with particular emphasis on the immunosuppressive mechanisms that limit the efficacy of anti-tumor immune responses. His laboratory is known for the development and application of functional intravital microscopy (F-IVM), which combines multiphoton intravital microscopy with fluorescent reporters of T cell activation to study immune cell dynamics in the tumor microenvironment in real time. This approach has been central to his work on regulatory T cell (Treg) biology and CD8+ T cell signaling in tumors, including studies that revealed how CTLA-4 blockade can paradoxically expand tumor-associated Tregs, and how PD-1 immunotherapy inadvertently supports Treg survival through an indirect CD8+ T cell–IL-2 axis. More recently, his group combined mathematical modeling with experimental validation to identify continuous Treg influx as a driver of acquired resistance to PD-1 therapy. He has published 36 peer-reviewed papers, with lead or senior author articles appearing in Cell, Cancer Cell, Immunity, and Cancer Research.
Earlier in his career, Marangoni contributed to the development of lentiviral gene therapy for Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, work that was instrumental in obtaining orphan drug status for the selected vector and in the approval of a clinical trial that has cured 16 affected individuals. He has received funding from the Melanoma Research Alliance as a Young Investigator and was awarded the 2026 Maria Göppert Award from Intravital Microscopy Australia. He has mentored 19 trainees, the majority of whom have continued careers in science, and received the 2026 Gina Lee Award for Excellence in Mentoring Basic Science Research Trainees from UC Irvine.
Return to topEducation
- Postdoctoral Fellow in Immunology / intravital microscopy, Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard University, 2013
- PhD in Basic and Applied Immunology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 2007
- MSc in Bioinformatics, University of Torino, 2003
- MSc in Medical Biotechnology, University of Bologna, 2001
Distinctions
- NIH NCI R01 CA287116, 2026-2031
- Gina Lee Award for Excellence in Mentoring Basic Science Research Trainees, 2026
- Maria Göppert Award, Intravital Microscopy Australia, 2026
- Young Investigator Award, Melanoma Research Alliance, 2022-2025
- "Nancy Tarbell" Fellowship (Relinquished), Harvard Medical School, 2019
- "Sara Elizabeth O'Brien" Fellowship, Charles King Trust, Boston, 2013-2015
- Fund for Medical Discovery Fellowship, Harvard Medical School, 2009-2010
- Tuition/stipend fellowship, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, 2003-2006
- Prize "Magda Severini Oblach" for best graduation thesis in Experimental Oncology, University of Bologna, 2002
- Tuition fellowship, University of Turin, 2002-2003
Areas of Expertise
- Tumor Immunology
- Intravital Multiphoton Microscopy
- Regulatory T Cells
- Checkpoint Immunotherapy Resistance
- Macrophage Plasticity In Cancer
- Mathematical Modeling of the Tumor Immune Environment
- Dirty Mice
- NFAT Pathway Activation Dynamics
Recent Publications
- Sousa RS, Geels SN, Murat C, Moshensky A, Di Pilato M, Villalta SA, Lowengrub JS, Marangoni F, “Mathematical and Mouse Models Identify Regulatory T Cell Influx as A Key Determinant of Acquired Resistance to PD-1 Immunotherapy” (opens in new tab), Cancer Research, 2026.
- Geels SN, Moshensky A, Sousa RS, Murat C, Bustos MA, Walker BL, Singh R, Harbour SN, Gutierrez G, Hwang M, Mempel TR, Weaver CT, Nie Q, Hoon DSB, Ganesan AK, Othy S, Marangoni F, “Interruption of the intratumor CD8(+) T cell:Treg crosstalk improves the efficacy of PD-1 immunotherapy” (opens in new tab), Cancer Cell, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1051-1066.e7, 2024.
- Geels SN, Murat C, Moshensky A, Othy S, Marangoni F, “Protocol to quantify the activation dynamics of tumor-associated T cells in mice by functional intravital microscopy” (opens in new tab), STAR Protocols, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 103310, 2024.
- Marangoni F, Zhakyp A, Corsini M, Geels SN, Carrizosa E, Thelen M, Mani V, Prussmann JN, Warner RD, Ozga AJ, Di Pilato M, Othy S, Mempel TR, “Expansion of tumor-associated Treg cells upon disruption of a CTLA-4-dependent feedback loop” (opens in new tab), Cell, vol. 184, no. 15, pp. 3998-4015, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Martinez GJ, Pereira RM, Äijö T, Kim EY, Marangoni F, Pipkin ME, Togher S, Heissmeyer V, Zhang YC, Crotty S, Lamperti ED, Ansel KM, Mempel TR, Lähdesmäki H, Hogan PG, Rao A, “The transcription factor NFAT promotes exhaustion of activated CD8⁺ T cells” (opens in new tab), Immunity, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 265-278, 2015.
- Ligorio M, Sil S, Malagon-Lopez J, Nieman LT, Misale S, Di Pilato M, Ebright RY, Karabacak MN, Kulkarni AS, Liu A, Vincent Jordan N, Franses JW, Philipp J, Kreuzer J, Desai N, Arora KS, Rajurkar M, Horwitz E, Neyaz A, Tai E, et al., “Stromal Microenvironment Shapes the Intratumoral Architecture of Pancreatic Cancer” (opens in new tab), Cell, vol. 178, no. 1, pp. 160-175.e27, 2019.
- Di Pilato M, Kfuri-Rubens R, Pruessmann JN, Ozga AJ, Messemaker M, Cadilha BL, Sivakumar R, Cianciaruso C, Warner RD, Marangoni F, Carrizosa E, Lesch S, Billingsley J, Perez-Ramos D, Zavala F, Rheinbay E, Luster AD, Gerner MY, Kobold S, Pittet MJ, et al., “CXCR6 positions cytotoxic T cells to receive critical survival signals in the tumor microenvironment” (opens in new tab), Cell, vol. 184, no. 17, pp. 4512-4530.e22, 2021.
- Murooka T.T., Deruaz M., Marangoni F., Vrbanac V.D., Seung E., Von Andrian U.H., Tager A.M., Luster A.D., Mempel T.R., “HIV-infected T cells are migratory vehicles for viral dissemination” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 490, pp. 283-289, 2012.
- Bauer C.A., Kim E.Y., Marangoni F., Carrizosa E., Claudio N.M., Mempel T.R., “Dynamic Treg interactions with intratumoral APCs promote local CTL dysfunction” (opens in new tab), Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 124, pp. 2425-2440, 2014.
- Bosticardo M., Marangoni F., Aiuti A., Villa A., Roncarolo M.G., “Recent advances in understanding the pathophysiology of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome” (opens in new tab), Blood, vol. 113, pp. 6288-6295, 2009.
- Mani V., Bromley S.K., Aijo T., Mora-Buch R., Carrizosa E., Warner R.D., Hamze M., Sen D.R., Chasse A.Y., Lorant A., Griffith J.W., Rahimi R.A., McEntee C.P., Jeffrey K.L., Marangoni F., Travis M.A., Lacy-Hulbert A., Luster A.D., Mempel T.R., “Migratory DCs activate TGF-b to precondition naïve CD8+T cells for tissue-resident memory fate” (opens in new tab), Science, vol. 366, 2019.
- Di Pilato M, Kim EY, Cadilha BL, Prüßmann JN, Nasrallah MN, Seruggia D, Usmani SM, Misale S, Zappulli V, Carrizosa E, Mani V, Ligorio M, Warner RD, Medoff BD, Marangoni F, Villani AC, Mempel TR, “Targeting the CBM complex causes T(reg) cells to prime tumours for immune checkpoint therapy” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 570, no. 7759, pp. 112-116, 2019.
- Marangoni F, Zhakyp A, Corsini M, Geels SN, Carrizosa E, Thelen M, Mani V, Prüßmann JN, Warner RD, Ozga AJ, Di Pilato M, Othy S, Mempel TR, “Expansion of tumor-associated Treg cells upon disruption of a CTLA-4-dependent feedback loop” (opens in new tab), Cell, vol. 184, no. 15, pp. 3998-4015.e19, 2021.
- Marangoni F., Trifari S., Scaramuzza S., Panaroni C., Martino S., Notarangelo L.D., Baz Z., Metin A., Cattaneo F., Villa A., Aiuti A., Battaglia M., Roncarolo M.-G., Dupre L., “WASP regulates suppressor activity of human and murine CD4 +CD25+FOXP3+ natural regulatory T cells” (opens in new tab), Journal of Experimental Medicine, vol. 204, pp. 369-380, 2007.
Contact Information
Website: https://www.immunoimaging.org
Email: f.marangoni@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-8329
Address: 3034 Hewitt Hall
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Last updated on 9/11/2026.