Riccardo Dalla-Favera is known for his studies on the genetic alterations involved in the pathogenesis of human cancer, and human B cell lymphoma in particular. He was born in Legnano, Milan, Italy, in 1951 and grew up in Milan. He obtained his medical Doctor degree from University of Milan. He moved to the U.S. in 1978 to join as a Fogarty Fellow the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. In 1983 he joined the faculty of New York University, and in 1989 moved to Columbia University, where he is the founding Director of the Institute for Cancer Genetics. He is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.