CURRENT POSITION
Full Professor, academic discipline BIOS-12/A, Human Anatomy
Head of the Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara
EDUCATION
1989 - Degree in Biological Sciences, Unife
1995 - PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Unife
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
Professor of Human Anatomy for the following degree courses at Unife:
- Medicine and Surgery (LM)
- Biotechnology for Translational Medicine (LM)
- Medical Biotechnologies
MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
Current appointments:
- Head of the Department of Translational Medicine
- Member of the Academic Senate
- Technical Director of the Biobank of the Laboratory for Advanced Therapies Technologies (LTTA) of the Ferrara Technopole, part of the BBMRI-IT network
- Member of the Teaching Board of the PhD in Advanced Therapies and Experimental Pharmacology
- Member of the Italian Society of Anatomy and Histology (SIAI)
Previous appointments:
-Scientific Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Therapies Technologies (LTTA) of the Ferrara Technopole, 2010-2018
- Head of the Department of Morphology, Surgery, and Experimental Medicine, 2015-2020
- Rector's Delegate for Logistics, 2016-2021
- President of the Independent Evaluation Body of the Trieste Health Services Company (A.S.S.) n. 1, 2012-2018
- Member of the Steering and Verification Council of I.R.C.C.S. Burlo Garofolo (Trieste), 2010-2015
- Member of the Board of Directors of the Research Area Consortium (Area Science Park, Trieste), 2011-2015
- Head of the “Laboratory of Human Herpesviruses of the Division of Basic Science” at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA), 1996-1999
- Member of the Experts Registry “Industrial Research D.Lgs. 297/1999” of the Ministry of Education, University and Research
- Reviewer for National Research Projects (PRIN), Ministry of Education, University and Research
- Evaluator of the “Futuro in Ricerca -FIRB 2010” Projects, Ministry of Education, University and Research
- Reviewer for projects funded by European agencies: Health Research Board (HBR) eGrants; National Fund for Scientific Research/Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek FWO (Belgium); Imperial College of Science Funding Committee; Sheffield Hospitals Charitable Trust (United Kingdom); Research into Ageing (United Kingdom)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue “State of the Art and Perspectives in Retinal Pigment Epithelium” for the journal Biomolecules, 2024
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue “The Role of Autophagy and Apoptosis in Cancer Cells” for the journal Cells, 2023
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue “TRAIL Receptor in Health and Diseases” for the journal Cells, 2019
Reviewer for numerous international journals, including: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Leukemia, Blood, American Journal of Pathology, Journal of Cell Physiology, British Journal of Haematology
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
- Publications: 295 articles in international scientific journals, H index = 56, Citations: 11544 (January 27, 2025, Scopus).
Scopus Author Id: 7006778094
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4101-7987
RESEARCH ID: G-9689-2015
- Patent: U.S. Patent Application PCT/US98/14372 “Human Herpesvirus-7 Diagnostic and Immunology Reagents and Methods Thereof,” 2001
- Patent: US Provisional Application No. 61/447,653 “Apoptosis-inducing Molecules and Uses Therefor,” 2011
Main Research Projects:
- Telethon Start-Up Research Grant, 1999-2001
- National Research Council (CNR – Progetto Giovani), 2001-2003
- National Institute of Health (ISS - National AIDS Research Program), 2002-2024
- National Institute of Health (ISS - National Stem Cell Research Program), 2003-2004
- Basic Research Incentive Fund (FIRB) of MIUR (Project in the Hematologic Oncology field), 2002-2005
- National Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) of MIUR as National Coordinator (Project in the Vascular field), 2004-2005
- National Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) of MIUR as National Coordinator (Project in the Vascular field), 2006-2007
- CariFe Foundation (Research projects on the application of TRAIL in oncology), 2007-2010
- Ministry of Health Project 2010 - Researcher Finalized Call (Area: Clinical assistance; Research project on diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome), 2011-2013
- Emilia-Romagna Region-University Research Program (Research project in regenerative medicine), 2008-2011
- Basic Research Incentive Fund (FIRB Agreement Program) of MIUR (Research project on stem cell studies in the Hematologic Oncology field), 2011-2013
- Industrial Research Program Confindustria Research – Emilia-Romagna Region [Call “From Productive Districts to Technological Districts 2’’ - Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology District], 2012-2013
- Emilia-Romagna Region-University Research Program (Research project in Rehabilitation), 2013-2015
- Regional-University Research Program – Call “Alessandro Liberati” (Research project in rheumatoid arthritis), 2013-2015
- Industrial Research Program Emilia-Romagna POR FESR 2014/2020 (Project for the enhancement of biobanks in research), 2017-2019
- MIUR/PNR Project 2015-2020 (Project in the Biomedical field), 2017-2022
- Industrial Research Program Emilia-Romagna POR FESR 2014/2020 Action 1.2.2. Strategic Industrial Research Projects addressing the priority areas of S3 (Project in the Biomedical field), 2018-2021
- PNRR Project (PNRR-MAD-2022) (Project in the Immunological field), 2022-2025
Main Research Topics:
The main research areas are focused on immunology, hematologic oncology, and cardiovascular fields. These studies specifically addressed:
i)‘Preclinical testing’ activities using in vitro and in vivo systems, combining molecular and cellular biology approaches, with the use of primary human cells as models for in vitro or ex-vivo investigations;
ii) Morphological-functional characterization of disease models focused on identifying new therapeutic targets;
iii) Identification of molecular and cellular targets for the development of innovative anti-tumor therapies with particular attention to the mechanism of action of proteins belonging to the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) family, such as TRAIL (TNF-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand);
iv) Analysis of the biological effects of bioactive molecules in the context of degenerative retinal diseases; v) Setup of 3D skin models for the evaluation of pharmacological treatments for dermatological pathologies associated with an imbalance in trained immunity.
Full Professor, academic discipline BIOS-12/A, Human Anatomy
Head of the Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara
EDUCATION
1989 - Degree in Biological Sciences, Unife
1995 - PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Unife
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
Professor of Human Anatomy for the following degree courses at Unife:
- Medicine and Surgery (LM)
- Biotechnology for Translational Medicine (LM)
- Medical Biotechnologies
MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
Current appointments:
- Head of the Department of Translational Medicine
- Member of the Academic Senate
- Technical Director of the Biobank of the Laboratory for Advanced Therapies Technologies (LTTA) of the Ferrara Technopole, part of the BBMRI-IT network
- Member of the Teaching Board of the PhD in Advanced Therapies and Experimental Pharmacology
- Member of the Italian Society of Anatomy and Histology (SIAI)
Previous appointments:
-Scientific Director of the Laboratory for Advanced Therapies Technologies (LTTA) of the Ferrara Technopole, 2010-2018
- Head of the Department of Morphology, Surgery, and Experimental Medicine, 2015-2020
- Rector's Delegate for Logistics, 2016-2021
- President of the Independent Evaluation Body of the Trieste Health Services Company (A.S.S.) n. 1, 2012-2018
- Member of the Steering and Verification Council of I.R.C.C.S. Burlo Garofolo (Trieste), 2010-2015
- Member of the Board of Directors of the Research Area Consortium (Area Science Park, Trieste), 2011-2015
- Head of the “Laboratory of Human Herpesviruses of the Division of Basic Science” at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA), 1996-1999
- Member of the Experts Registry “Industrial Research D.Lgs. 297/1999” of the Ministry of Education, University and Research
- Reviewer for National Research Projects (PRIN), Ministry of Education, University and Research
- Evaluator of the “Futuro in Ricerca -FIRB 2010” Projects, Ministry of Education, University and Research
- Reviewer for projects funded by European agencies: Health Research Board (HBR) eGrants; National Fund for Scientific Research/Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek FWO (Belgium); Imperial College of Science Funding Committee; Sheffield Hospitals Charitable Trust (United Kingdom); Research into Ageing (United Kingdom)
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue “State of the Art and Perspectives in Retinal Pigment Epithelium” for the journal Biomolecules, 2024
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue “The Role of Autophagy and Apoptosis in Cancer Cells” for the journal Cells, 2023
- Guest Editor of the Special Issue “TRAIL Receptor in Health and Diseases” for the journal Cells, 2019
Reviewer for numerous international journals, including: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Leukemia, Blood, American Journal of Pathology, Journal of Cell Physiology, British Journal of Haematology
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
- Publications: 295 articles in international scientific journals, H index = 56, Citations: 11544 (January 27, 2025, Scopus).
Scopus Author Id: 7006778094
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4101-7987
RESEARCH ID: G-9689-2015
- Patent: U.S. Patent Application PCT/US98/14372 “Human Herpesvirus-7 Diagnostic and Immunology Reagents and Methods Thereof,” 2001
- Patent: US Provisional Application No. 61/447,653 “Apoptosis-inducing Molecules and Uses Therefor,” 2011
Main Research Projects:
- Telethon Start-Up Research Grant, 1999-2001
- National Research Council (CNR – Progetto Giovani), 2001-2003
- National Institute of Health (ISS - National AIDS Research Program), 2002-2024
- National Institute of Health (ISS - National Stem Cell Research Program), 2003-2004
- Basic Research Incentive Fund (FIRB) of MIUR (Project in the Hematologic Oncology field), 2002-2005
- National Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) of MIUR as National Coordinator (Project in the Vascular field), 2004-2005
- National Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) of MIUR as National Coordinator (Project in the Vascular field), 2006-2007
- CariFe Foundation (Research projects on the application of TRAIL in oncology), 2007-2010
- Ministry of Health Project 2010 - Researcher Finalized Call (Area: Clinical assistance; Research project on diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome), 2011-2013
- Emilia-Romagna Region-University Research Program (Research project in regenerative medicine), 2008-2011
- Basic Research Incentive Fund (FIRB Agreement Program) of MIUR (Research project on stem cell studies in the Hematologic Oncology field), 2011-2013
- Industrial Research Program Confindustria Research – Emilia-Romagna Region [Call “From Productive Districts to Technological Districts 2’’ - Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology District], 2012-2013
- Emilia-Romagna Region-University Research Program (Research project in Rehabilitation), 2013-2015
- Regional-University Research Program – Call “Alessandro Liberati” (Research project in rheumatoid arthritis), 2013-2015
- Industrial Research Program Emilia-Romagna POR FESR 2014/2020 (Project for the enhancement of biobanks in research), 2017-2019
- MIUR/PNR Project 2015-2020 (Project in the Biomedical field), 2017-2022
- Industrial Research Program Emilia-Romagna POR FESR 2014/2020 Action 1.2.2. Strategic Industrial Research Projects addressing the priority areas of S3 (Project in the Biomedical field), 2018-2021
- PNRR Project (PNRR-MAD-2022) (Project in the Immunological field), 2022-2025
Main Research Topics:
The main research areas are focused on immunology, hematologic oncology, and cardiovascular fields. These studies specifically addressed:
i)‘Preclinical testing’ activities using in vitro and in vivo systems, combining molecular and cellular biology approaches, with the use of primary human cells as models for in vitro or ex-vivo investigations;
ii) Morphological-functional characterization of disease models focused on identifying new therapeutic targets;
iii) Identification of molecular and cellular targets for the development of innovative anti-tumor therapies with particular attention to the mechanism of action of proteins belonging to the Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) family, such as TRAIL (TNF-Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand);
iv) Analysis of the biological effects of bioactive molecules in the context of degenerative retinal diseases; v) Setup of 3D skin models for the evaluation of pharmacological treatments for dermatological pathologies associated with an imbalance in trained immunity.
