The Children's Tumor Foundation
03/19/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/19/2026 07:30
Young Investigator: Q&A with Federico La Manna on Advancing Treatments for NF1 Bone Disease
The Young Investigator Award (YIA) provides two-year salary support to early-career NF researchers to help them get established as independent NF investigators and pursue bold, innovative projects designed to improve care and uncover new treatments for people living with NF. Since its inception, several YIAs have made groundbreaking research findings and notable publications through this program, and many have advanced to become leaders in the NF research and clinical communities.
We're pleased to introduce some of these researchers from the latest class of awardees: Federico La Manna, PhD (Weill Medical College of Cornell University), whose YIA-funded study is focused on understanding the cellular causes of NF1-related bone disease and advancing new targeted treatments aimed at improving fracture healing and skeletal health for people living with NF1.
A person wearing glasses and a white lab coat sits at a laboratory workstation with scientific equipment in the background.
What are you hoping to discover through this project?
Within the environment of the Greenblatt lab, I'm investigating what specific skeletal cell lineage and differentiation stage is the most affected by the NF1 mutation. Understanding the cellular aspects of NF1 is key to develop effective targeted therapies and to identify the most appropriate conditions for pharmacological intervention. Through my work, I hope to shed light not only on our understanding of the mechanisms of the skeletal effects of NF1 but also on the implementation of targeted and effective treatments to improve their impact on patients' quality of life.
What first drew you to study NF and/or what continues to inspire your work?
I received training on rare tumors since before completing my PhD degree, contributing to the development of new translational models to study different aspects of the disease, from metastasis formation to drug response in multiple types of sarcomas. In the Greenblatt lab I found an ongoing line of research on NF1, which readily drew my attention. The state-of-the-art models and techniques already available in the Greenblatt lab allowed a prompt start of the research project, which could have only been possible with the support of the CTF. The excitement of performing scientific experiments for NF1 research in such a great environment is also fueled by the realization that, in time and step by step, each discovery can lead to improving the quality of life of NF1 patients.
What's a discovery, experiment, or moment in your research that has surprised or excited you the most?
One of the parts of the project that I find most exciting comes from the possibility of working with human specimens, particularly with tissues with high stemness, that can be manipulated to reproduce some of the cellular and molecular characteristics of NF1 patients. I find the use of human samples in my research project quite exciting, as it tremendously increases the significance of the overall discoveries of the research project and allows me to test the effects of drugs with good translational potential on a model that, for how simplified, still represents developing human skeletal tissues.
What does a typical day in the lab look like for you?
On a typical day I usually have a mix of "wet" lab tasks including samples processing for cell culture or for histological analyses for instance, and "dry" lab tasks like data analysis, experiment design and planning, as well as regular checks on the mouse colony involved in the in vivo experiments. I also have an ongoing regular dialogue with Matt, who provides me with fundamental mentoring support for all the steps of my research activities. Periodically, I would check on published literature, to stay updated on the ongoing status of research in the NF1 field, implementing items from others' successful research projects and keeping the work carried out in the lab novel and focused to the designed aims.
What does it mean to you to receive this support from the Children's Tumor Foundation?
The support of the CTF allowed and promoted my research activities not only from a material standpoint but also by fueling my motivation: the CTF environment provides a developed network connecting basic and clinical researchers, joining research projects with translational needs as well as with patients' advocacy hubs. Seeing my research through the eye of such focused and well-integrated reality greatly helped to keep my research focus bound to the patients' actual needs, which represents a very important component in keeping a high morale in the ups and downs of research! Last but not least, I feel honored to have received the Young Investigators Award, for its prestige as well as for the recognition of the research work carried on by the Greenblatt lab, to which I'm enthusiastically contributing thanks to the CTF support.
How do you like to spend your time outside the lab?
I like to keep myself busy when I'm not in the lab, dedicating some time to fitness as a way to take care of my physical and mental health. I love cooking, that's maybe due to my Italian background, but it is surely something I like doing in my spare time, especially if I get to share my meals with some good friends.
Is there anything else you'd like to share with the NF community?
I would just take this occasion to thank the CTF for their support, as I believe that research is the only way to advance our understanding of all diseases and conditions, particularly those involving multiple organs like NF1.
Click here to learn more about funding opportunities, including the Young Investigator Awards, from the Children's Tumor Foundation.
The Children's Tumor Foundation published this content on March 19, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 19, 2026 at 13:30 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]