My research interest is focused on age related diseases, with a special accent on cardiovascular diseases and cancer. During my PhD program, I participated in demonstrating the presence of a post-natal cardiac turnover. During my specialization in hematology, I demonstrated that adult human tissues (heart, bone marrow and liver) host a population of widely multipotent cells. Subsequently, I demonstrated that similar multipotent cells may be cultured from G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood. Furthermore I demonstrated that cells with a mesenchymal immunophenotype can be identified in the blood of patients affected by an acute Myocardial Infarction. More recently we also demonstrated that cardiac resident stem cells isolated from the hearts of patients affected by end-stage heart failure are affected by cell senescence processes that alter their differentiation and migratory abilities. Importantly, senescent stem cells lose their reparative potential and, by studying the molecular mechanisms of their dysfunction, we showed that mTOR activation, coupled with the activation of the inflammasome and IL1ß secretion are central in this negative process. Focusing on cancer, we have shown that cells with a mesenchymal phenotype can be isolated from neoplastic tissues and that these cells have aberrant growth properties, together with the ability to support tumor growth. In recent years, we have studied the mechanisms of tumor-stoma cross-talk, focusing on extracellular vesicles and exosomes. Furthermore, we evaluated the presence of cells in epithelial to mesenchymal transition in the blood of patients affected by breast cancer, showing their prognostic significance, and opening the way to future studies devoted to understand the pathophysiological significance of specific subsets of circulating tumor cells in the metastatic potential of triple negative breast cancer. Being part of an Academic Hospital, we have devoted our efforts in trying to provide a translational value to our research projects, aiming at bringing bench results to the bedside.