The Science of You

For Valentina, it was meant to be a new beginning: changing homes and continents, moving to a place where she had felt at home since her very first visit. The diagnosis came just as everything seemed ready—lymphoma. Within a matter of hours, Valentina’s life was turned upside down, and that “new beginning” became a journey into illness, culminating in a personalized treatment that was experimental at the time: CAR T-cell therapy.

Per Valentina doveva essere un nuovo inizio, cambiare casa e continente, trasferirsi in un posto nuovo in cui si era sentita a casa fin dalla prima visita. La diagnosi è arrivata quando tutto sembrava pronto: linfoma. Nel giro di poche ore la vita di Valentina è stata stravolta e quel nuovo si è trasformato in un viaggio dentro la malattia, culminato con un trattamento personalizzato, sperimentale per i tempi: la terapia con cellule Car-T.

Olivia e Dianne sono due adolescenti olandesi che convivono dalla nascita con una rara malattia che causa accumulo eccessivo di colesterolo nel sangue, si chiama ipercolesterolemia familiare omozigote, colpisce meno di un bambino ogni trecentomila individui e può provocare incidenti cardiaci fin dai primi anni di vita. Il trattamento standard di questa condizione è molto stressante invasivo, ma grazie ai progressi nel campo della medicina personalizzata Olivia, Dianne e le altre persone che vivono la loro condizione, possono oggi vivere una vita serena al pari di tutti gli altri.

Olivia and Dianne are two Dutch teenagers who have lived with a rare disease since birth that causes excessive accumulation of cholesterol in the blood. It is called homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, affecting less than one child in every 300,000 individuals, and can cause heart attacks from an early age. The standard treatment for this condition is very stressful and invasive, but thanks to advances in personalized medicine, Olivia, Dianne, and others living with this condition can now live peaceful lives like everyone else.

Joe is a lively and joyful teenager from the north of England. He loves Italy, because here is where he was cured of a rare genetic disease, the same that claimed the life of his little sister, Connie. In this episode, we follow the story of Joe and his family to explore the frontiers of personalized medicine for genetic therapy.

Joe è un adolescente pieno di vita che arriva dal nord dell’Inghilterra. Ama l’Italia perché è qui che è stato curato da una malattia genetica rara, la stessa che ha tolto la vita alla sua sorellina Connie. In questa puntata raccontiamo la sua storia e quella della sua famiglia, per scoprire quali sono le frontiere della medicina personalizzata per le terapie geniche.

Tamara is a German nurse who has lived in Lisbon for more than twenty years. Cancer has been a recurring presence in her family, affecting three people on her father’s side as well as her mother. A chance encounter with a young patient prompts her to undergo genetic testing, perhaps saving her life and leading her to choose preventive surgery.

Tamara è un’infermiera tedesca che vive a Lisbona da oltre venti anni. La storia della sua famiglia è stata segnata profondamente dal cancro, che ha colpito tre persone della sua famiglia paterna, oltre che sua madre. L’incontro con una giovane paziente la convincerà a fare i test genetici che forse le hanno salvato la vita, orientandola verso un intervento di chirurgia preventiva.

Four episodes. Four powerful stories of patients and former patients who benefited from personalised medicine. From oncology to rare genetic disorders, from preventive surgery to cardiovascular diseases, this podcast brings real human experiences to life, showing how tailor-made therapies are reshaping treatment into a more effective and informed journey.

Quattro episodi, quattro storie di pazienti ed ex pazienti che hanno affrontato il percorso della medicina personalizzata. Dall’oncologia alle malattie genetiche rare, dalla chirurgia preventiva alle patologie cardiovascolari, questa serie del podcast racconta esperienze concrete e umane, mostrando come le terapie su misura possano trasformare la cura in un cammino più efficace e consapevole.

If DNA is the blueprint, proteins are the builders, communicators and catalyzers. They’re the ones actually getting stuff done in your cells. Welcome to the world of proteomics – the study of all the proteins your body makes. Think of proteins as the building blocks and dynamic forces that make life possible, each one with its unique role and impact. This episode is all about how proteomics is helping us understand the complexity of diseases and opening up new doors for personalised treatment.

This episode will take you on a journey through immunotherapy, the quest to harness the power of our own immune system. Immunotherapy represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of diseases, particularly cancer. We will examine the origins of immunotherapy, its current applications, and how it is being tailored to individual patients as a personalised approach. For this episode we interviewed: Professor Michele Maio and Professor Mihai Netea.

We’re hosts to trillions of bacteria that live inside of us, shaping our health in ways we’re only beginning to understand. Our cells are outnumbered by bacteria, and it turns out that just like our DNA, the makeup of our microbiome is uniquely ours. In this episode, we’ll explore how these microbes aren’t just along for the ride – they’re active players in our health story. For this episode we interviewed: Professor Emma Allen-Vercoe and Professor Nicola Segata.

DNA is the blueprint of life. In this episode, we’ll trace the journey from the first sequencing of our genetic code to the game-changing implications this has for personalised medicine today. For this episode we interviewed: Professor Rachel Horton and Professor Aureliano Stingi.

On the surface, we’re all quite similar. But zoom in and our unique biologies and environments reveal differences that shape how we react to certain foods, process medicines, and are susceptible to specific diseases. For a long time, medicine took a one-size-fits-all approach—and sometimes it didn’t fit at all. Now we’re on the cusp of a major shift: a new era where treatments could be tailored to each person’s unique biology. Join Silvia Lazzaris as she speaks with researchers and clinicians at the forefront of this transformation, exploring the discoveries that challenged our understanding of the human body and the innovations set to redefine healthcare. We’ll tackle big questions: Where are we now? What could healthcare look like in the future? And crucially, who will have access to it?