Dr Elena Zagato graduated in Biotechnologies at the University of Bologna (Italy). She then defended her PhD in Molecular Oncology in the laboratory of Prof Maria Rescigno in Milan (Italy), acquiring a strong background in mucosal immunology and interactions with the microbiota in health and disease. She later joined the team of Prof Andrea Alimonti in Bellinzona (Switzerland), where she demonstrated how the intestinal microbiota can contribute to androgen deprivation resistance in prostate cancer.