Curriculum

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name Paola Rizzo

Title Associate Professor of Applied Biology (BIOS-10/A)

Office Address University of Ferrara, Via Fossato di Mortara 70, 44121 Ferrara,

Telephone 39-0532- 455-508

Cell phone 39-340-498-1875

E-mail address rzzpla@unife.it

 

EDUCATION

 

  • Ph.D.     Biomedical and Endocrinological Sciences                                                          2004

University of Ferrara, Italy

Scientific Tutors: Prof. Lucio Miele at the Loyola University and Prof. Mauro Tognon at the

University of Ferrara

Thesis: Role of Notch in human tumors

  • M.S.     Biological Sciences                                                                                                    1989

University of Naples, Italy

Advisor: Prof. Giuseppe D’Alessio

Thesis: The role of opioid peptides in male reproductive system

 

EXPERIENCE

University of Ferrara, Ferrara

Department of Translational Medicine

Associate Professor Applied Biology March 2018-Present

Assistant Professor Applied Biology March 2015-February 2018

 

Department of Medical Sciences

Assistant Professor (not tenure) May 2014-February 2015

Senior Scientific Consultant (UOL Cardiology) Jan 2011-May 2014

Research activity

  • Crosstalk between Notch and estrogen receptor.
  • Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and aortic valve calcification.
  • Molecular mechanisms underlying endothelial dysfunction.
  • Involvement of the Notch pathway in peripheral artery disease, aortic calve calcification and cardiotoxicity of cancer drugs.
  • Effect of ivabradine in the initial steps of atherosclerosis development.
  • Characterization of dysfunction in endothelial cells cultured with serum from patients with cardiovascular diseases.
  • Role of Notch signaling in modulation of mesenchymal cells isolated from adipose tissue of heart failure patients.

Loyola University Medical School, Chicago IL

Department of Pathology, Breast Cancer Program                                                                         2005-2009

Assistant Professor

Research activity

  • Cross talk between Notch and estrogen receptor α in breast cancer cell lines.  (Project Lead)
  • Pilot study of gamma-secretase inhibitor (GSI) MK-0752 with tamoxifen or Letrozole in patients with early- stage breast cancer prior to surgery.  (Co-investigator)
  • Effect of estrogen on mRNA expression profile response induced by Notch pathway inhibition in breast cancer cell lines. (Co-investigator)
  • Evaluation of the relationship between Notch receptors and ligands with known breast cancer prognostic factors (Co-investigator)

University of Illinois, Chicago IL

Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences                                                                                  2002-2005

Research Specialist

Research activity

  • Investigated crosstalk between Notch and H-Ras. Demonstrated 1) Overexpression of Ras in human fibroblasts induced Notch 1 activation. 2) Ras overexpression in human breast cancer was associated with high levels of Notch 1.

 

Loyola University Medical School, Chicago IL

Department of Pathology, Thoracic Oncology Cancer Program 1996-2001

Research assistant III

Research activity

  • Performed molecular analyses on polio vaccines produced in 1963. Characterized the strain of SV40 present in these to shed light on the origin of SV40 sequences in human tumors.
  • Contributed to understanding the role of asbestos in the pathogenesis of mesothelioma by studying changes in c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels in normal mesothelial cells after asbestos exposure.
  • Molecular analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) human tumor samples for: 1) detection of the translocation t(X;18) characteristic of synovial sarcomas and 2) mutation analysis by SSCP of the neurofibromatosis type 1 gene.

University of Chicago, Chicago IL

Department of Pathology                                                                                                          1995-1996

Research Project Professional

Research activity

  • Analysis of human tumors for Simian Virus 40: contributed to the discovery of SV40 DNA sequences in human ostosarcomas
  • Generated stable cell lines in SV40 T-antigen positive human mesothelioma cells to overexpress mouse MHC class 1 gene to study T cells response against large T antigen in mice.

 

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD                                                                              1994-1995

Thoracic Oncology Section, Surgery Branch, NCI

Adjunct Scientist

Research activity

  • Analyzed SV40 viral replication in human mesothelioma cell lines and viral proteins in human mesothelioma specimens.
  • Evaluated mesothelioma patients serum for the presence of neutralizing antibodies against SV40.

 

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD

Section on DNA Replication, Repair and Mutagenesis, NICHD                                                   1993-1994

Adjunct Scientist

Research activity

  • Analyzed human mesothelioma for Simian Virus 40 DNA sequences which contributed to identification of viral fingerprints in human mesothelioma

 

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD

Section on Protein Chemistry and Conformation, NIDDKD,

Visiting Associate 1992-1993

Visiting Fellow 1989-1992

Research activity

  • Studied mechanism of antibody-antigen interaction using monoclonal antibodies to cytochrome c. Utilized infrared spectroscopy to identify the antibody (Ab) residues involved in the recognition of the antigen (Ag). Required purification of large amount of antibody from ascites obtained from BALB-c mice injected intraperitoneally with hybridoma cells. Performed mutagenesis of the antigen binding site to elucidate residues required for Ab-Ag complex formation.

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Number of publications: 124; number of citations: 7116; h-index: 43 (Scopus)


SUPERVISING AND MENTORING

  • Mentored 3 summer students 1989-1993
  • Mentored 3 graduate student 2002-2008
  • Mentored 3 undergraduate students 2007-2009
  • Supervision of 6 post-docs and 6 graduate students (2011-present)

 

INVITED LECTURES

Rizzo P. “Technical problems for the detection of SV40 in human mesothelioma”

First Italy-USA Conference on Malignant Mesothelioma and other asbestos related neoplasm, Belgirate VB (Italy), 1997

 

Rizzo P. “SV40 and human malignancies”

Vaccine Technologies Conference, Crystal City, VA, (USA), 1999

 

Rizzo P. “The association of Simian virus 40 with hamster and human lymphomas: biological significance” British Lymphoma Society Meeting, Cardiff, Wales, 1999

 

Rizzo P. “Notch as a therapeutic target for breast cancer”

Chicago Women’s Board of America Cancer Society’s Illinois, Chicago Il (USA),2006

 

Rizzo P. “Crosstalk between Notch and Estrogen receptor in breast cancer”

PhD Program in Biochemistry, Loyola University Medical School, Maywood Il (USA), 2008

Rizzo P. “The role of Notch in hormone responsive breast cancer”

University of Milan, Department of Pharmacology, Milan (Italy), 2009

 

Rizzo P. “Estrogen receptor and Notch cross-talk in breast cancer”

University of Trento, Centre for Integrative Biology, Mattarello TN (Italy) 2009

 

Rizzo P. “Serum from heart failure patients affects Notch signaling in human vein endothelial cell”

Loyola University Medical Center, Cancer Center, Maywood Il (USA), 2011

 

Rizzo P. “Modulation of sprouting angiogenesis by Notch and Estrogen Receptor cross-talks”

Loyola University Medical Center, Cancer Center, Maywood Il (USA), 2012

 

Rizzo P. “Cross-talks between Notch and Estrogen receptor in human endothelial cells”

University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson MS (USA), 2011

 

Rizzo P: “Steps of a clinical trials: from bench to bedside”

Salvatore Maugeri Foundation, Lumezzane BS (Italy), 2012

 

Rizzo P- “Role of Notch in cardiovascular disease and ivabradine-mediated vascular protection”

ECM event: Brainstorming on innovation in cardiology: focus on anticoagulation

Ferrara (Italy), 2013

 

Rizzo P- “Is Notch involved in the association between aromatase inhibitors and coronary artery disease in women with breast cancer?” - VII International Meeting on Notch Targeting in Cancer, Cyprus 2017

 

Rizzo P. “The nutraceutical bioactive compound berberine protects against endothelial

dysfunction caused by inflammation” American Council Medicinally Active Plants Conference, Uttharakan, India February 2019.

 

Rizzo P. “Nutraceutici e riduzione del rischio cardiovascolare: ruolo dei recettori Notch” XIII Convegno Nazionale Istituto Nazionale Biostrutture e Biosistemi Rome, October 25, 2019

 

Rizzo P.  “Heart rate reduction with ivabradine in the early phase of atherosclerosis is protective in the endothelium of ApoE-deficient mice”, The 22° Meeting of Italian Society of Cardiovascular Research Imola, November 6-8, 2019

 

Rizzo P. "New technologies for the advancement of Personalized Medicine" Conference "Severe obstructive pathologies of the integrated respiratory tract. Sharing the experiences. University - Hospital - Territory integration" Salerno, November 17-18, 2023

 

2024- Rizzo P. “CRISPR/CAS9: New Therapeutic Approaches for Respiratory Pathologies based

on Genomic Editing" Conference "Severe obstructive pathologies of the integrated respiratory tract. Sharing the experiences. University - Hospital - Territory integration" Salerno, 7 December 2024

 

GRANTS

 

Illinois Department of Public Health 2007: Ticket for Cure Research Fund ($125,000) Targeting breast cancer through the cross-talk between estrogen and Notch (Principal Investigator)

 

2012- Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier (I.R.I.S.): Effect of ivabradine in the initial steps of atherosclerosis development (Principal Investigator)

 

2014- "Incos” Srl (Coswell Spa) 2014: Comparative study of the antioxidant and immunomodulant

activities between yeast and lab fermented papaya  (Principal Investigator)

 

2018- POR FSE 2014/2020 New generation sequencing techniques for the identification and characterization of mutated hematopoietic clones in elderly subjects for the development of prognostic markers of cardiovascular diseases (Principal Investigator - Research Doctorate)

 

2018- Regional Operational Program European Regional Development Fund 2014-2020 (Infrastructure call) SUPER: Supercomputing Unified Platform - Emilia Romagna. “ Comparison of the transcriptional profile of calcific valves in the presence or absence of CHIP”. (Principal Investigator)

 

2019- MISE (Italian Department of Economic Development) grant with IGEA S.p.A: "Study of the mechanisms of action and intracellular pathways underlying the effect of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields PEMFs" (Collaborator)

 

2020- EPIC-XS (The European Proteomics Infrastructure Consortium grant) – “Multi-omics signature of endothelial dysfunction to predict mortality in COVID-19 patients” (Co-principal investigator)

 

2022- Emilia-Romagna Grant "Regional agreements for the establishment and development of businesses"– "Integrated and personalized assessment of the risk of neuroischemic complications in diabetes – VIPER" (Collaboration with Gruppo Villa Maria Care and Research )

 

2023- POR-FESR EMILIA ROMAGNA 2021-2027ACTION 1.1.1 “Support for research, experimental development and innovation projects companies: Grant for research projects in the field of aerospace

economy and the design of critical infrastructures (Collaboration with Gruppo Villa Maria Care and Research )

 

2023- MISE (Italian Department of Economic Development) grant with INCOS Industrial Cosmeceutics: “Technological solutions for the production, conservation, traceability, safety and quality of new functional foods.” (Collaborator)

 

 

MANAGERIAL ACTIVITIES

•       Member of the Joint Faculty-Student Committee (CPDS) for the Bachelor's Degree Program in Nursing - Ferrara.

•       Member of selection committees for competitions for (3) Ph.D. candidates, the recruitment of (3) research fellows, (1) Type A researcher, and (1) Research Manager.

•       Member of the Unife-USA Relations Committee.

 

THIRD MISSION ACTIVITIES

  • Scientific Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Therapy Technologies (LTTA) of the Technopole of University of Ferrara.
  • Project Manager for the 2023 Public Engagement initiative, “Walking Together for Health.”