Dr. de Conti received a graduate degree in Industrial Pharmacy from the Oswaldo Cruz College in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2005 and a Ph.D. degree in Food Sciences from the University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2009. In the years 2009-2012, Dr. de Conti conducted a postdoctoral research on Nutrition and Cancer at University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil and expand 6 months as a Visiting Researcher at NCTR’s Division of Biochemical Toxicology. In 2012, Dr. de Conti joined NCTR as postdoctoral fellow and in 2015 she was converted to an FDA Staff Fellow.
Dr. de Conti has published more than 40 research articles, 2 book chapters and has served as a reviewer for scientific articles. She has been invited to be a member of the International Agency for Cancer Research on cancer working group to evaluate the carcinogenic risks to humans.
Dr. de Conti’s research interest is related to the identification of molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis with focus on the role of epigenetic alterations. Dr. de Conti have investigated the role of epigenetic alterations in liver carcinogenesis induced by several non-genotoxic and genotoxic carcinogens. The results of Dr. de Conti’s research demonstrate the importance of epigenetic alterations as contributing factors to carcinonegenesis and indicate that epigenetic alterations may represent a class of biomarkers with a great potential for the identification of exposure status, damage response, and/or disease state, and may become an essential tool for hazard identification. Another major area of Dr. de Conti’s research has been investigating the genomic and epigenomic drivers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and NAFLD-associated liver cancer. Currently, NAFLD is the most prevalent form of chronic liver disease in the United States and other countries worldwide, affecting approximately one-quarter of the world's population. Using in vivo models of NAFLD-related hepatocarcinogenesis, she demonstrated the significance of epigenetic abnormalities, including alterations in histone modifications, DNA methylation, and chromatin structure, in the development of NAFLD-related HCC. In addition, Dr. de Conti have interest in the elucidation of chemopreventive bioactive food components against liver carcinogenesis, including farnesol, β-ionone, tributyrin, and folic acid, as well as, in the investigation of the mechanisms of action involved in the prevention of liver cancer.
Since 2021, Dr. de Conti has been working for the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a scientist of the Monographs Programme, specifically as a toxicologist for the carcinogens mechanisms section.
Dr. de Conti has been actively involved with the Hispanic Organization of Toxicologists (HOT), a Special Interest Group of SOT, which the main goal is to provide a forum, for the awareness and dissemination of toxicological information and opportunities as they relate to the Hispanic/Latino community. Dr. de Conti is the current (2021-2022) president of HOT.