Who we are

We study how the environment — understood both as a set of negative exposures and as a source of positive stimuli — shapes the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate health across the life course. Our goal is to understand how the constant dialogue between environment, genome and epigenome contributes to the onset of disease or, conversely, supports processes of biological resilience.

Epigenetics is one of the most dynamic frontiers of biomedicine: it investigates heritable modifications in gene expression that do not alter the DNA sequence but modulate its function through mechanisms such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, microRNAs and extracellular vesicles.
At LETE, we conduct advanced research on these processes, analysing how the full spectrum of environmental exposures (the exposome) — from air pollution to heavy metals, from socioeconomic conditions to lifestyle factors — influences the epigenetic circuits underlying inflammation, aging, cancer risk and individual vulnerability.

Alongside negative determinants, we also investigate positive exposures, such as physical activity and experiences that promote well-being, to explore the epigenetic processes that underpin biological resilience — an emerging concept connecting molecular mechanisms, healthy aging and public health.
This perspective is one of the pillars of the laboratory and led to the creation of INES — the Initiative for the Epigenetics of Smiles, a project dedicated to understanding how emotions, social interactions, positive experiences and daily life events can leave measurable traces in epigenetic pathways and inflammatory profiles.

Our work is grounded in strong methodological rigor, integrating molecular epidemiology, multi-omics approaches, advanced biostatistics and reproducible bioinformatics. Studies are designed with careful attention to data quality, causal inference and analytical robustness, ensuring solid, reliable and interpretable results.

This scientific rigor is matched by a strong translational vocation. LETE operates within an ecosystem that connects basic research, clinical settings and real-world applications. On one hand, we transfer knowledge and technologies into clinical practice and public health; on the other, we aim to promote technology transfer and third mission activities, making innovative tools accessible to the community and fostering cultural dissemination on topics such as the exposome, healthy aging and positive determinants of health.

Our context

The LETE laboratory is part of the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (DIBIC) at the University of Milan, located within the Luigi Sacco Hospital. This connection is not merely geographical: the Sacco carries a history that deeply resonates with our scientific vision.
Originally founded as a sanatorium, the hospital embraced—already in the early 20th century—rehabilitative practices based on the idea that the environment could decisively influence health. Among these, a central role was played by heliotherapy — controlled exposure to sunlight — considered a therapeutic intervention capable of supporting the immune system, promoting recovery and improving overall well-being. Open terraces, green spaces and great attention to natural light were integral parts of care.

This cultural and clinical heritage — the idea that the environment, if understood and used wisely, can become a form of therapy itself — continues today in the work of DIBIC and our laboratory. Studying how the exposome, epigenetics and positive stimuli influence health and resilience is, in many ways, a way of carrying forward a tradition rooted in the very place where we work.
From the heliotherapy of sanatoriums to modern research on the epigenetics of exposures, the same principle remains central: the relationship between individuals and their environment is a fundamental — and modifiable — determinant of health.

Belonging to a department with such breadth allows LETE to collaborate across clinical units, biological laboratories, medical statisticians and local institutions, developing projects ranging from urban exposomics to cancer prevention, from environmental epigenetics to the characterization of positive determinants of health.