Raffaele Renella

Raffaele Renella (born 1976 in Basel) is a Swiss pediatric hematologist and oncologist. He is an associate professor at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the head of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Unit at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). His research focuses on the molecular and cellular causes of pediatric cancers and blood disorders, with a specific interest in anomalies of hematopoietic stem cell development, neuroblastic tumors/neuroblastoma, and the development of gene and cell therapies. In 2026, he was appointed as the co-director of the Swiss NCCR "Children & Cancer" funded by the SNSF.

Career Renella obtained his Medical Degree (MD) from the University of Geneva. He completed his residency in pediatrics at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).

From 2005 to 2009, Renella pursued a PhD with William G. Wood and Douglas R. Higgs in Molecular Hematology at the University of Oxford (Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine). As a Lord Florey Scholar at Lincoln College, he conducted research on congenital dyserythropoietic anemia. During this period, he also served as an Honorary Specialist Registrar at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

In 2010, Renella relocated to the United States for a clinical and research fellowship in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Boston Children's Hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School. He conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of David A. Williams. From 2013 to 2014, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as an Instructor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an Attending Staff Physician at Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber.

Renella returned to Switzerland in 2015, assuming the role of Attending Physician in the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Unit at CHUV and was appointed Head of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Research Laboratory (LHOP) at CHUV and University of Lausanne. He holds board certifications from the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (FRCPCH).

His research investigates cancer and blood disorders in children and fosters the development of targeted gene and cell therapy approaches. His work specifically investigates the molecular mechanisms behind embryonal pediatric cancers (neuroblastoma) and complex genetic blood disorders (bone marrow failure), myelodysplastic syndromes, and hemoglobinopathies.

Renella was involved in the discovery of a childhood neutropenia syndrome caused by mutations in the SEPT6 gene.

He has contributed to research on lineage-specific BCL11A knockdown strategies to reverse the sickle cell phenotype and has studied the genetic basis of congenital dyserythropoietic anemias.

He also participates in the development of clinical guidelines, including for children, adolescents and adults with autistic spectrum disorders undergoing cancer treatments.

He is a member of the Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group (SPOG) and the European Hematology Association. Distinctions Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (FRCPCH) 2005: Lord Florey Scholarship (Berrow Foundation), Lincoln College, University of Oxford

Selected works