Dr. Francesca Gori

Dr. Francesca Gori received her PhD in Biology from the University of Florence, Italy. She joined Larry Riggs' group at the Mayo Clinic as a postdoctoral fellow, investigating the effects of signaling molecules and hormones on human mesenchymal stem cell lines and bone remodeling. In 2000, she became an instructor in medicine and was promoted to assistant professor at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/Harvard Medical School (HMS) in 2005. There, she identified the gene Wdr5, crucial for chromatin modifications and chondrocyte and osteoblast differentiation. In 2011, she joined the Department of Oral Medicine, Infection, and Immunity (OMII) at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM).

Gori has authored numerous publications and received awards such as the Harold Frost Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) and the John Haddad Young Investigator Award from Advances in Mineral Metabolism (AIMM). She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Plus.

At HSDM, Gori contributes to the education of DMD students and residents, serving as director of predoctoral research, the Scholar in Oral Health course director, and discipline director for craniofacial and developmental genetics. She is also the program director of the DMSc program in oral biology and directs the “Mineralized Tissue Biology and Diseases” course in the advanced graduate education (AGE) curriculum. Additionally, she serves on several HSDM education committees.

Gori’s research focuses on the molecular, cellular, and genetic basis of skeletal homeostasis. Her major focus is on how Wnt signaling regulates skeletal stem cells and bone homeostasis. Lab work on Wnt16 and Sfrp4 has shown differential regulation of trabecular and cortical bone by Wnt signaling. Other projects include the role of osteocytes in bone remodeling and mineral metabolism and how PTH/PTHrP signaling regulates skeletal homeostasis.