Curriculum

 

CURRICULUM VITAE OF ELENA ADINOLFI
Date and place of birth: Salerno (Italy), May 30th, 1974 Nationality: Italian
Affiliation and official address: Dept. Experimental and Diagnostic Medicine, Section of General Pathology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Telephone: +39-053245355 (office)
e-mail: elena.adinolfi@unife.it
EDUCATION
1997: Biological Sciences Degree summa cum laude , University “Federico II” , Naples, Italy
1998: National Board, University “Federico II” , Naples, Italy
2001: Ph.D. in Biotechnologies , University of Ferrara, Italy
2008: M.D. in Clinical Pathology summa cum laude, University of Ferrara, Italy
CAREER/EMPLOYMENT
2001: Wellcome Trust scholar at the Institute of Molecular Physiology, University of Sheffield, U.K. 
2001: European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) fellow, at the Institute of Molecular Physiology University of Sheffield, U.K.
2002-2003: Postdoctoral research associate at the Institute of Molecular Physiology, University of Sheffield, U.K.
2003-2007: Postdoctoral research associate (Assegnista di Ricerca) at the Department of Experimental and Diagnostic Medicine section of General Pathology, University of Ferrara, Italy
2007-2008: Postdoctoral researcher for the “Ferrara Ricerche” Consortium on a project untitled: “Extracellular ATP growth promoting effects”.
2008- 2011: Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Experimental and Diagnostic Medicine section of General Pathology, University of Ferrara, Italy on a European project untitled: “ATPBone , fighting osteoporosis by blocking nucleotides: purinergic signalling in bone formation and homeostasis”.
2011-present Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Ferrara, Italy.
TEACHING EXPERIENCES
 2003-2011 Lecturer of different courses of Molecular and General Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Degree in Biotechnologies, University of Ferrara, Italy .
2012- present Lecturer of Clinical and General Pathology Faculty of Medicine, Degrees in Medicine and Surgery and Nursing,  University of Ferrara, Italy.
GRANTS
2006-2007: Principal investigator University of Ferrara Young scientists Grant untitled: Carachterization of the expression and function of P2 receptors in human mesenchimal stem cells.
2012-2015: My first AIRC grant untiteld: The purinergic P2X7 receptor as an oncogene: focus on neuroblastoma.
EDITORIAL AND OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
2006: Guest Editor for Purinergic Signalling.
2009-present: Managining Editor for Frontiers in Bioscience.
2012: Guest editor for Journal of osteoporosis
2009: Referee for the Journal of Biological Chemistry
2006: Bath Pharmacology Society invited Speaker for a lecture on : “The role of P2X7 purinergic receptors on apoptosis and proliferation”, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath, U.K.
2008: Professor’s Annmarie Surprenant Invited Speaker for a lecture on: “ P2X7R in intracellular Ca2+ signaling and cell death protection”, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, U.K.
2003-2008: Scientific Secretariat of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Inflammation, University of Ferrara .
2006: Scientific Secretariat of the 8th International Symposium on Adenosine and Adenine Nucleotides, Ferrara, Italy
2009: Scientific Secretariat of the Third ATPBone mini-symposium, Ferrara, Italy.
AWARDS
2001: EMBO Fellowship
2003: Winner of a participation scholarship for the 8th Course in Cancer Genetics ( University of Bologna, Italy).
2004: Winner of a participation scholarship of the British Pharmacological Society for the 2nd James Black Conference, New Targets in Pain and Inflammation (Churchill College, Cambridge, U.K.).
2006: Prize for best oral communication at the 8th International Symposium on Adenosine and Adenine Nucleotides. (University of Ferrara, Italy).
2007: Prize for best poster presentation at the 2nd Joint Italian German Purine Club Meeting. (Leipzig, Germany).
 
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
Member of the European ATPBone Consortium
Member of the Italian Purine Club
 
MAIN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Dr. Adinolfi has been studying purinergic signalling since her PhD period, focusing, particularly on P2X7 receptor mediated cell proliferation. She participated to a seminal study proving the role of P2X7 receptor in lymphocyte proliferation that was the premise for a following work showing receptor’s overexpression in B chronic lymphocytic leukemia. During her post doc spent at Sheffield Univesity (UK) she was involved in the caractherization of the proteins forming The P2X7 cell membrane complex and on the functions of P2X7 activation on mitochondria. Subsequently she pursued her studies on P2X7 trophic effects proving receptor’s mediated positive regulation of mitochondrial and reticular homeostasis. She was also involved in investigating P2X7 signaling in the immune system, in particular in dendritic cells and peritoneal macrophages. At the moment she’s focusing on the proliferative/transforming role of different P2X7 isoforms in models as different as HEK293 and osteoblasts/osteosarcoma cells.
Publications:
25 articles in international peer reviewed journals
35 abstracts at congresses of which 9 oral presentations and 6 published in international peer reviewed journals.