Cristiana Della’Anna, the actress who portrays Mother Cabrini in the upcoming biopic, Cabrini, visits with Sbarro Health Research Organization Founder and President Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, and with Miguel Mostafá, Dean of the College of Science and Technology, at the Sbarro Institute for Cancer research at Temple University in Philadelphia on February 23, 2024. The film, which depicts the immigrant nun who founded the Sisters of the Sacred Heart charity, premieres March 8.

“Ms. Della’Anna is an outspoken advocate for cancer research and has been an enduring supporter of the work of our Sbarro Institute both in the US and Italy,” says Giordano. “Ms. Della’Anna hails from Napoli, my home town and that of millions who were part of the Italian Diaspora, which makes her visit all the more significant for us.”

The biographical drama details the life of famed Roman Catholic missionary and future saint Francesca Cabrini, as she encounters resistance to her charity and business efforts in New York City. The film explores the sexism and Anti-Italianism faced by Cabrini and others in New York City during the late 19th Century. 

“We are honored to host Cristiana Della’Anna at the Sbarro Health Research Organization  laboratories,” says Giordano, “in recognition of  her ground-breaking role portraying Saint Francesca Cabrini in her noble mission to ease the suffering of Italian immigrants to America and to bring the work of this Catholic icon to American and global consciousness.“

About the Sbarro Health Research Organization

The Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) is non-profit charity committed to funding excellence in basic genetic research to cure and diagnose cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses and to foster the training of young doctors in a spirit of professionalism and humanism. To learn more about the SHRO please visit www.shro.org.