Funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU Program
    MUR PNRR    PNRR Italia Domani


INF-ACT Foundation Goverance:


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President - Board Members - Statutory Auditors - Program Research Manager - Scientific Steering Committee - Scientific Surveillance Committee



President


Prof. Federico Forneris - President of the INF-ACT Foundation

Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Pavia (UNIPV) - federico.forneris@unipv.it

Graduated in Physical Chemistry at the University of Turin in 2002, he got his PhD in 2007 in Basic and Applied Bio-Molecular Sciences (University of Pavia and IUSS), and continued as postdoc at the University of Pavia for one more year. Between 2009 and 2013 he worked as postdoc in structural biology in the Bijvoet Centre for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University (The Netherlands), then he started his independent scientific research lab at the University of Pavia, Dept. Biology and Biotechnology, in 2014, thanks to the Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation Career Development Award and the "Rita Levi-Montalcini" program for young researchers from MUR. Since August 2023, he is Full Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Pavia
In 10 years since the start of his first appointment as Principal Investigator, he made important contributions to science testified by high-profile international publications, and secured funding for research through several competitive research grants from various national and international funding agencies.
His research activity focuses on the characterization of extracellular macromolecular systems using biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology.
Teaching activities include the coordination of the Master Course in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Pavia and the joint PhD Program in Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnologies at IUSS and University of Pavia.
Since 2021 he serves as Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Pavia.


Fornerislab Website

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Board of Directors


Dr. Sammy Basso - Member of the Board of Directors of the INF-ACT Foundation - Designated by MUR

(MUR) - sammysalamandra@yahoo.it

Born in 1995, he has been the spokesperson for the Sammy Basso’s Italian Progeria Association APS since 2005. He graduated with bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences and in 2021 then specializing in Molecular Biology at the University of Padua. Since 2021 he has been International Ambassador for the Progeria Research Foundation for which he works as scientific advisor. Since 2023 he has been a board member of the Italian Laminopathy Network Association. Since 2023 he works as researcher for the IGM-CNR, the Institute of Molecular Genetic of the Italian National Research Council. Over the years, given the knowledge he has developed in the biological and medical fields, he has been involved in several initiatives, for example the approval of a bill to cardio-protect Italy or in scientific outreach on social regarding the Covid19 pandemic. He is currently active in national and international conferences regarding progeria and raising awareness in the issues of disability, inclusion, and scientific research. For these and other reasons he has been awarded the Knighthood of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.



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Dr. Cinzia Giannini - Member of the Board of Directors of the INF-ACT Foundation

Istituto di Cristallografia - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) - cinzia.giannini@ic.cnr.it

From the PhD till 2000 she was researcher at the CNRSM in Brindisi. She joined CNR - Institute of Crystallography in 2001 as researcher (2001-2010), passed to senior researcher (2010-2020) and director of research (2020-today). From July 1st, 2021, she is Director of Institute of Crystallography.
In the over 30 years of research activity, she has studied structure and morphology of a variety of different materials working with X-ray scattering/diffraction techniques combined with advanced methodologies of data analysis, based on a good balance among X-ray Physics, Crystallography, Statistics, and Imaging algorithms. Precisely, till 2001 most of her work has been on thin films, surfaces, interfaces, lamellar heterostructures - superlattices, realized with physical methods for applications in photonics and electronics.
From 2001, till now, her studies have dealt with nanomaterials, biomaterials, fibers, and tissues, mainly synthesized by chemical methods for applications in energy, nanomedicine, circular economy. The maturity reached in the field, and the numerous collaborations derived from it, have made her an internationally acknowledged expert in X-ray analysis of materials. She has disseminated her research findings with more than 320 full papers published in international journals presented in many national/international congresses and schools.



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Prof. Giuseppe Matarese - Member of the Board of Directors of the INF-ACT Foundation

Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (UNINA) - giuseppe.matarese@unina.it

Born in 1970 in Naples, Giuseppe Matarese graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1994 from the Federico II University of Naples, subsequently obtaining a specialization in Clinical Pathology in 1999 and a doctorate in Endocrinological and Metabolic Sciences in 2004. He carried out his training period abroad during specialization at the Immunology department of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital in London, returning in 1998.
He was the beneficiary of two Telethon-JDRF projects on juvenile type I diabetes and received numerous research funding including two grants from the European Research Council (ERC). After over 10 years of activity as a CNR researcher, Giuseppe Matarese obtained the qualification of full professor of General Pathology in 2010, first at the University of Bari, then at the University of Salerno. Since 2016 he has been full professor of general pathology and immunology at the department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology of the Federico II University of Naples.
Main objective of his investigations are the understanding of the basic mechanisms of how metabolism controls susceptibility to autoimmune diseases and infections.



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Dr. Antonia Ricci - Member of the Board of Directors of the INF-ACT Foundation and Research Node 4 Co-Leader

Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe), Associazione Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali (AIZS) - aricci@izsvenezie.it

Antonia Ricci graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 1993 at Bologna University, and she received a Postgraduate certificate in Diagnosis and prevention of animal diseases in 1994, and a Postgraduate specialisation in Food Hygiene in 1997 at the University of Torino.
She headed until February 2018 the Food Safety Department of Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie(IZSVe), in Italy, and in March 2018 she was nominated Director of Science of IZSVe.
She heads since 1999 the National Reference Laboratory for Salmonellosis in Italy, which in 2007 was nominated OIE Reference Laboratory. From 2009 to 2018 she was member (and chair since 2015) of the Biohaz Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Her main fields of expertise are microbiology, epidemiology and control of foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance; in these areas she has given consultancy to national and international bodies, such as the European Commission, OIE, WHO, and she leads several research projects.


List of Publications

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Dr. Patrizia Tancredi - Member of the Board of Directors of the INF-ACT Foundation

Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) - patrizia.tancredi@iss.it

Following a brief experience in an Italian company taking care of their performance audit, she was hired by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) in the year 1993, where she was in charge of the funding management concerning the National AIDS HIV Programme.
Afterwards, starting from October 1999, she moved into the Central Finance and Human Direction where until 2022 she took care of admistrative management of the national and international funds that the ISS received for carring out research projects from National and European organization in the framework of Grants, Service contracts and Agreements. Since 2023 she is the ISS’ Director of Financial Office.
From the year 2018 she also covers the role of responsible of management control system.



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Dr. Carlo Toniatti - Member of the Board of Directors of the INF-ACT Foundation

IRBM S.p.A. (IRBM) - c.toniatti@irbm.com



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Prof. Enzo Tramontano - Member of the Board of Directors of the INF-ACT Foundation

Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università di Cagliari (UNICA) - tramon@unica.it

Prof. Tramontano has long standing experience in the field of antiviral drug development. Graduate from the University of Cagliari in 1990, he was Visiting Research Scientist at the Department of Pharmacology of Yale University Medical School (CT, USA) in 1990-1992 and 1996-1998. Hired by the University of Cagliari in the 1999, he is Full Professor of Microbiology since 2015 and is currently Chair of the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences.
Current research activities are focused on: i) discovery of antiviral agents through techniques for the evaluation of viral enzymatic functions and viral replication in cells; ii) understanding the mechanisms of viral evasion of innate immunity for the development of antiviral agents; iii) identification and characterization of retroviral sequences stably integrated into human genomes and definition of their transcriptome to explore their physiological and pathological role.
Prof. Tramontano has been and is scientific coordinator or unit coordinator of research projects granted by the EU, Italian and American national agencies, regional agencies. He has recently collaborated on projects studying drug development of the SARS-CoV-2, HIV-1 and Ebola viruses. He has been invited to give lectures at universities and conferences around the world, as well as chairing numerous scientific meetings.



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Statutory Auditors


Dr. Carola Buttazzoni - President of the Board of Auditors of the INF-ACT Foundation

Servizio Bilancio e Servizio Fiscale, Università degli Studi di Pavia (UNIPV) -

Dr. Buttazzoni obtained a degree in Economics and Commerce (ante D.M. 509/1999) at the University of Pavia. She subsequently obtained the following professional qualifications:
- inhabitation of the profession of Chartered Accountant;
- qualification to teach Law and Economics for upper secondary schools;
- qualification to teach Applied Mathematics for upper secondary schools;
- Statutory Auditor with registration in the Register of Auditors n.91184 G.U.n87 of 02/11/1999.
Dr. Buttazzoni began her career as a teacher of applied mathematics, then she practiced the profession of chartered accountant, having obtained the necessary qualification, she carried out tasks as Auditor of the Board of Auditors.
Presently, she works at the University of Pavia; Since 2015 she has been responsible for drafting the University’s financial statements and the consolidated financial statements, as well as being, since 2011, responsible for the University’s tax service.



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Dr. Pietro Vignali - Member of the Board of Auditors of the INF-ACT Foundation - Designated by MUR

(MUR) - pietro.vignali@studio-vignali.it

Pietro Vignali is a Chartered Accountant, Statutory Auditor, and Financial Consultant with extensive and diverse experience. He graduated in Economics and Commerce from the University of Parma with top marks and boasts wide-ranging expertise in financial consultancy and auditing. He is registered with the Board of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts as well as the Register of Statutory Auditors. Currently, he holds numerous positions, including President of the Board of Auditors at the Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione (IULM), Statutory Auditor for the Fondazione OnFoods, and Statutory Auditor for various companies such as Bonani SPA and Overmach Holding & C. SRL. In the past, he has held significant roles such as Mayor of Parma and President of the National Conference of Environmental Assessors.



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Dr. Sara Genovese - Member of the Board of Auditors of the INF-ACT Foundation

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) - sara.genovese@irib.cnr.it

Dr. Sara Genovese was born in Messina on 30/12/69. On 25 July 1994 she obtained a degree in Economics and Business at the University of Messina, on 23 November 1996 he received the Qualification to the profession of chartered accountant at the University of Messina. From 15/10/1999 is entered in the Register of Auditors. From December 15, 2010 was taken with the employment contract of indefinite duration with profile Technologist at the National Research Council. Has developed an extensive knowledge in the fields of: Business Plan, Structural Funds, Community Funding, Incentives national funding for the internationalization and research, and has always played a role management through the planning and implementation , monitoring the progress with the detection and control with the analysis of variances, Projects and Research activities arising from the use of resources and financing instruments such as International Projects, European and national, in some cases having held senior technical and administrative coordination, handling relations with the Scientific Partners with the European Community and with the representatives of technical and administrative project. In terms of technology transfer, also participates in the utilization of the results of research undertaken by the Institute in terms of technical and commercial. In fact manages the relationships with the companies in order to generate real innovative processes in production and try to exploit commercially the results of the research. Since 2020, she has been the Head and Coordinator of the Project Office at IRIB CNR, aimed at supporting the planning, submission, and management of national and international research projects. Since 22/11/2021, she is a Member of the permanent Working Group (GdL) of the CNR PNRR, reporting directly to the CNR Presidency.



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Program Research Manager


Dr. Federica Zacchini - Program Research Manager of the INF-ACT Foundation

Fondazione INF-ACT (INF-ACT) - management@inf-act.it

Dr. Zacchini obtained a MSc in Reproductive Biotechnology (2008) and a PhD in Epidemiology and Advanced Diagnostics in Comparative Pathology (2011) at the University of Teramo.
From 2012 to 2015, PostDoc researcher at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine - University of Teramo where she participated in various national and international research projects.
From 2015 to 2023, Dr. Zacchini carried out research, grant writing and project management activities at international level in Poland, The Netherlands and UK, collaborating with several research institutes and companies in the workframe of EU-funded projects (H2020, Horizon Europe) as well as national ones.
Dr. Zacchini was coordinator of two research projects and winner of a MSCA Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
Since July 2023, she joined the INF-ACT Foundation as Program Research Manager.



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Scientific Steering Committee


Prof. Fausto Baldanti - Scientific Director of the INF-ACT Project and Research Node 1 Leader

Dipartimento di Scienze Clinico-Chirurgiche, Diagnostiche e Pediatriche, Università degli Studi di Pavia (UNIPV) - fausto.baldanti@unipv.it

Professor Baldanti is a Full Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology at the Department of Clinical Surgical, Diagnostic, and Pediatric Sciences of the University of Pavia (since 01/02/2023). He serves as the Director of the Department of Diagnostic Services and Imaging at the IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation, Pavia (since 09/2022) and is the Director of the Complex Structure of Microbiology and Virology at the IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation, Pavia (since 01/09/2022).
Since May 2, 2017, he has been the Director of the Specialization School in Microbiology and Virology at the University of Pavia, open to both medical and non-medical graduates. In 2004, he obtained the Specialization in Microbiology and Virology with a score of 70/70 with honors from the University of Padua. In 1995, he achieved the Specialization in Infectious Diseases with a score of 50/50 with honors from the University of Pavia.
Professor Baldanti is a co-author of over 500 papers published in international scientific journals indexed in Medline, the majority of which as the first, last, or corresponding author (Scopus). He has also contributed to 4 chapters, 3 in English-language texts and 1 in an Italian-language text. His H-index is 66 (Scopus), with a total of 18,418 citations (Scopus).



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Prof. Anna Teresa Palamara - Scientific Director of the INF-ACT Project and Research Node 4 Leader

Dipartimento Malattie Infettive, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) - annateresa.palamara@iss.it



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Prof. Giovanni Maga - Scientific Director of the INF-ACT Project and Research Node 5 Leader

Istituto di Genetica Molecolare - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) - giovanni.maga@igm.cnr.it

Biologist. CNR Research Director, head of the Laboratory of DNA Enzymology and Molecular Virology of the CNR Institute of Molecular Genetics in Pavia and Director of the CNR Department of Biomedical Sciences. Topics: Genome replication and repair in human cells and viruses. Development of antivirals. Author of 277 publications, H-index 54 (Scopus)



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Scientific Surveillance Committee


Prof. Silvia Angeletti - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico (FPCBM) - s.angeletti@policlinicocampus.it

Silvia Angeletti graduated with honors in Medicine and Surgery from the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome and graduated with honors in Biological Sciences from "La Sapienza" University of Rome. She obtained her specialization in Microbiology and Virology with honors from "La Sapienza" University of Rome. She is a Full Professor of Clinical Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Director of the Complex Operating Unit of the Laboratory at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, Director of the Clinical Laboratory Sciences Research Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University, and Director of the Specialization School in Clinical Pathology and Clinical Biochemistry, Campus Bio-Medico University. She is a member of the Committee for the Control of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital.
In 2021, she was awarded the David di Donatello 2021 Prize for her fundamental contribution to the safe recovery of film and audiovisual productions in Rome and Italy during the COVID-19 crisis. She was appointed a Knight of the Italian Republic for her significant contribution and dedication as a healthcare worker during the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020.
Number of publications: 209 - Citations: 5018 - H-index: 34.



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Dr. Ariela Benigni - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS (IRFMN) - ariela.benigni@marionegri.it

Ariela Benigni, Biol. Sci. D, PhD, is Scientific Secretary of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research and Research Coordinator at Bergamo sites. She spent time training abroad, in Strasbourg, London and Boston.
Her team identified vasoactive and inflammatory mediators of renal damage in experimental and human progressive renal diseases. Recent interest of her group focuses on looking at therapies to halt renal disease progression or even induce regression of kidney lesions by multidrug approach as well as stem cell therapy. She has held distinguished positions internationally, including Consultant World Health Organization, Senior Fellow in Obstetric Medicine at University of Oxford. She acted as Associate and Academic Editor of several international journals and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Nephron.
In 2019 she received the "Tomoh Masaki Award" International Award for her studies on endothelin. In July 2021 she has been bestowed by the President of the Italian Republic as Knight Order of Merit of the Italian Republic; in 2022 she was appointed Italian Delegate of the Horizon Europe Program Committee, Health Cluster 2021-2027, and Expert Technical Consultant for the Italian Table on Fundamental Research Strategy by the Italian Ministry for University and Research.
She has published 353 peer-reviewed articles and she belongs to the Top Italian Scientists and to the Top Italian Women Scientists groups. Her H-index (Scopus) is 83.



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Prof. Giuseppe Campiani - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation e Research Node 5 Co-Leader

Università degli Studi di Siena (UNISI) - campiani@unisi.it

Giuseppe Campiani is full professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Siena, Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy and Adjunct Faculty Member at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences - Iran.
He started his career as a senior researcher in MedChem working at Siena University and in the early ’90s, he moved at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville-FL collaborating with Prof. Alan P Kozikowski on the development of new drugs against neurodegenerative diseases and later he continued his research activity at Columbia University in the City of New York-Department of Chemistry, as a visiting scientist collaborating with Prof. Koji Nakanishi. In 1999 he became Associate Professor of MedChem at Salerno University, in 2001 visiting professor at Trinity College Dublin-IRL and in 2002 full professor of MedChem at Siena University.
Exploration of chemistry and biology of naturally-occurring and synthetic organic molecules with therapeutic potential in infectious diseases is one of the main topic of research activity. These interests include target selection and the rational design of innovative drugs, the discovery of new synthetic methodologies and general strategies for synthesis, bioinformatics and the study of important structure-function relationships.



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Prof. Ignazio Castagliuolo - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation and Research Node 2 Co-Leader

Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare, Università degli Studi di Padova (UNIPD) - ignazio.castagliuolo@unipd.it

Full Professor of Microbiology and clinical microbiology at Padua University. Graduate in Medicine and surgery and specialist in Internal Medicine. Prof. Castagliuolo spent about seven years at Boston University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, working on Clostridioedes difficile contributing to the understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms of this Hospital acquired pathogen. He returned to Italy as Assistant Professor of Microbiology in 1999. Since then he teaches at the School of Medicine University of Padua at medical, pharmacy and nursing undergraduate students. Presently, he is the Director of the graduate School in Microbiology and Virology of Padua University and Chief Editor of "Frontiers in Molecular Medicine, section Molecular Microbes and Diseases". During his academic career, he received numerous funding from national and international research agencies including CCFA of America, MUR, Cariparo, AIRC. His research focuses on host-microbe interaction including the role of microbiota on host health.
Prof. Castagliuolo has published 170 scientific articles in high impact journals including Nat Comm, PNAS, JCI, Gastroenterology, who have accumulated more than 9,200 citations with an H-index of 56.



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Dr. Concetta Castilletti - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

UO Virologia e Patogeni Emergenti, IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria (ISCDC) - Concetta.castilletti@sacrocuore.it

Concetta Castilletti is a biologist at IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Negrar di Valpolicella (VR), she is head of the Virology and Emerging Pathogens Unit of the Department of Infectious, Tropical and Microbiology Diseases where she is in charge of diagnostic and research activity on virology with particular reference to infections sustained by emerging/reemerging viruses. As part of her activities, she also participates in national and international networks in virology field and is responsible for the biosafety aspects in the high biocontainment laboratories of the IRCCS.
Dr. Castilletti participates to several networks focused on emerging infections; she is and has been project manager of various research projects funded by Italian Health Ministry, and international bodies (EU), she also has the National Scientific Qualification for the sector 06/A3, Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology (II Fascia, D.D 2175/2018).
Dr. Castilletti authored more than 200 in extenso publications, of which at least 50 indexed by PubMed as principal author (first, last or corresponding author); H-Index of 44.



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Dr. Pier Giulio Conaldi - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e le Terapie Avanzate (ISMETT) -



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Prof. Alessandra della Torre - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation and Research Node 2 Leader

Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Malattie Infettive, Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" (UNISAP) - alessandra.dellatorre@uniroma1.it

Alessandra della Torre is Professor of Parasitology in the Department of Public Health and Infectious Disease. She leads the Medical Entomology group which is focused on arthropod vectors of human and zoonotic diseases, with particular reference to Aedes invasive mosquito species vector of exotic arboviruses in Europe and Afro-topical malaria vectors.
The research projects integrate genomic, molecular, cytogenetic, ecological and behavioural approaches to laboratory and field activities, in collaboration with research groups in Europe, USA and Australia - in order to characterize the biology of Aedes albopictus and other Aedes Invasive species in temperate regions - and in Africa, Europe, USA - to better characterize the dynamics of malaria transmission.
The newly acquired knowledge is exploited to optimize mosquito vector’s surveillance and control approaches.
She received support by WHO-TDR, the FP7 and H2020 European funding schemes, National Institute of Health (NIH-USA) and Istituto Pasteur Italia-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, coordinated the H2020 Aedes Invasive Mosquito COST Action (AIM-COST) gathering research groups from 37 European countries, and is a member of the Inter-sectorial Task Force on Vector Borne Diseases of the Italian Ministry of Health.
She published 155 papers in peer-reviewed Journals (H-index=49).



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Prof. Giovanni Delogu - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (UCSC) - Giovanni.delogu@unicatt.it

Giovanni Delogu, PhD, is Full Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Roma, Italy), Scientific Director of the Mater Olbia Hospital and Head of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Mater Olbia Hospital (Olbia, Italy).
He graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Sassari where he gained the Specialization in Microbiology and Virology. He obtained the PhD in Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. He served as a Fogarty Fellow at the Laboratory of Mycobacteria, CBER, Food and Drug administration. Starting in 2003, he moved to the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart as Assistant professor, then Associate Professor and currently Full Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology.
The main scientific interests aim at dissecting the molecular and immunological mechanisms involved in host-pathogen interactions with special focus on Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other mycobacteria species, using relevant in vitro and in vivo models. Other scientific interests involve the development and evaluation of new antimicrobials and host-directed therapies against TB and other bacterial pathogens; microbiological and immunological diagnosis of TB; WGS and molecular epidemiology of TB; surveillance of antimicrobial resistance.



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Prof. Sara Epis - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano (UNIMI) - sara.epis@unimi.it

Sara Epis is Associate Professor in Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, PI of the EntoparUnimi research group, Coordinator of the Master's Degree in Biodiversity and Biological Evolution (BIOEVO), member of the Pediatric Clinical Research Center "Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi".
Her main research lines include: (1) the protozoan parasite Leishmania tarentolae as a platform for the production of antigens of emerging pathogens, for the serodiagnosis of infectious diseases (e.g. COVID-19 and Rift Valley fever) and for vaccination applications. (2) Arthropod vectors and vector-borne diseases: investigation of prokaryotic and eukaryotic symbioses associated with arthropod vectors, application of biological control techniques (paratransgenesis), monitoring and study of alien and invasive species. In particular, the results recently obtained on the alien mosquitoes Aedes koreicus and Aedes japonicus in Northern Italy have opened a line of research aimed at studying the biology, control strategies and their diffusion also through mathematical prediction models and Environmental DNA.
With an academic age of 16 years, she is author of 110 research papers, about 20 conference proceedings and book chapters and more than 30 audio/video interviews; h-index: 37 (Google Scholar), 31 (Scopus); total citations: 4043 (Google Scholar), 2761(Scopus).



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Prof. Ezio Ferroglio - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Università degli Studi di Torino (UNITO) - ezio.ferroglio@unito.it

Ezio Ferroglio graduated in veterinary medicine in 1992, then gained his PhD in "Epidemiology and control of zoonosis" at the University of Bologna in 1997. He is currently a Full Professor of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases at the Department of Veterinary Sciences and Director of the Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine School of the University of Turin, Italy.
Since 1999 he has been involved in more than 80 research projects, for a budget of about 7 million €, relating to the diagnosis, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of parasites, vectors, and vector-borne pathogens of wildlife, livestock, companion animals, and honey bees with a special focus on public health issues and zoonotic parasite. He is ranked in the upper 99% of Veterinary Medicine researchers in ResearchGate.
He became a member of the European Veterinary Parasitology College in September 2003 and of the European College of Veterinary Public Health in July 2005 and since 2015 is President of ESCCAP Italy.



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Prof. Cosimo Gianluca Fortuna - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Catania (UNICT) - cosimo.fortuna@unict.it

Since 01/07/2018, Cosimo Fortuna is Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania
From 01/06/2021 to 01/06/2030 National Scientific Qualification to function as Full professor Competition sector: 03/C1 Organic Chemistry.
He has acquired a broad experience in synthetic organic chemistry , with special emphasis to heterocyclic compounds and in computational chemistry. He became, nationally, one of the most specialized researchers in heterocyclic synthesis.
Prof. Fortuna’s scientific activity is characterized by several lines of research, as can be seen from the funded projects. The first in the context of the synthesis of heterocyclics a potential antitumor activity, started in the laboratories of Prof. G. Musumarra and which has led to numerous collaborations. The second line of research is based on the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds with specific push-pull characteristics for applications in the field of non-linear optics. The third focuses on the synthesis of polymers for applications in the photovoltaic field and the fourth deals with molecular modeling. The research lines in this area focus on the design of compounds linezolid-like, which led to a national patent and also the submission of an international one, and on the design of inhibitors of COX-1 which led to a close and collaboration with the groups of Prof. A. Scillimati and of antibacterials in collaboration with Prof. S. Stefani.
His total number of publications in peer-review journals: 83; total number of citations: 1603; H index (Scopus): 24



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Prof. Luca Guidotti - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Università Vita Salute San Raffaele (UNISR) -



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Dr. Renata Grifantini - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Istituto Nazionale di Genetica Molecolare (INGM) - grifantini@ingm.org

She earned a MS Thesis in Biology, a PhD in Molecular and cellular biology. She dedicated most of her research activity in industry. She was scientist at ENI-Research (1990-1996) conducting research in the biotechnology field, applied to the optimization of pharmacologically active proteins by molecular engineering and structural proteomics approaches. Then, she was Project Leader and Head of microarray Unit at Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics (2004-2008), and at Chiron Vaccines (1996-2004) (Siena, Italy), leading research on the identification of vaccine candidates against different bacterial pathogens. Afterwards (2008-2016) she was Research Director at Externautics Srl (Siena, Italy), focused on the development of novel cancer targets and monoclonal antibodies for cancer therapy.
In June 2016 she joined the National Institute of Molecular Genetics (Milan, Italy) as PI and Head of Translational Research unit. In 2018 she was also appointed Chief Scientific Officer and General Director of CheckmAb SrL, dedicated to the development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for cancer immunotherapy. She is deeply involved in study of immunological determinants in infectious diseases, in the identification and validation of novel targets for cancer and autoimmune diseases, as well as in the development of monoclonal antibodies for immunotherapy.



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Prof. Roberta Iatta - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Dipartimento Interdisciplinare di Medicina, Università degli Studi di Bari (UNIBA) - roberta.iatta@uniba.it

Roberta Iatta is Associate Professor in Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases (VET/06), Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari, Italy.
She graduated in 2001 in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Bari, Italy
In 2005 she got her PhD in "Epidemiology and Prevention of Infection Diseases", Department of Internal and Public Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Bari, Italy, in collaboration with the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
In 2007 she did a Post-Doc in "Epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases", Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, School of Medicine, Hygiene Unit, University of Bari, Italy.
She is member of the Committee of the PhD Course in "Animal Health and Zoonosis", University of Bari, Italy and National PhD Course in "One Health approaches to infectious diseases and life science research".
Roberta Iatta is uthor of 117 articles in peer-review journals, 28 of H-index and 2842 citations (Scopus Indexes).
Her main research topics: epidemiology and diagnosis of parasitic diseases caused by pathogens of zoonotic concern and transmitted by vectors. She is currently interested in environmental monitoring of ticks and sandflies and diseases caused by protozoa (i.e., Leishmania) and bacteria (Borrelia burdorferi complex, Rickettsia of SFG, Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis) in humans, vectors and synanthropic animals.



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Dr. Stefano Merler - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation and Research Node 4 Co-Leader

Center for Health Emergencies, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) - Merler@fbk.eu

Stefano Merler’s research has covered a range of scientific topics related to the epidemiology of infectious diseases, the statistical, mathematical and computational modelling of infectious diseases transmission, the evaluation of the effectiveness of intervention measures. I have carried out research on emerging infectious diseases (influenza, SARS-CoV-2), vector-borne diseases (chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika, dengue), antimicrobial resistance (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase producing), childhood diseases (morbillo, chickenpox, respiratory syncytial virus, tuberculosis), filoviruses (Zaire and Sudan ebolavirues, Marburg), sexually transmitted diseases (mpox). During the COVID-19 pandemic he served as scientific advisor for the Italian National Institute of Health, the Italian Ministry of Health, the Special Commissioner for the COVID-19 Emergency and the Italian Scientific and Technical Committee. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic he served as scientific advisor for the Italian National Institute of Health.
Author of 176 research papers, with 156 academic papers for a cumulative JCR 2022 - Impact Factor (updated June 2023) of 1610.5 and 20 conference proceedings and book chapters; h-index: 44 (Scopus); total citations: 13164 (Scopus).



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Prof. Carlo Federico Perno - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Ospedale Pediatrico Bambin Gesù (OPBG) - Carlofederico.perno@opbg.net

Carlo Federico Perno is a Professor of Microbiology at UniCamillus and the International Medical University, and Director of Microbiology at the IRCCS Pediatric Hospital Bambino Gesù.
From 2001 to 2017, he was a Full Professor of Microbiology at the University of Tor Vergata, and later at the University of Milan. Between 2012 and 2017, he served as Vice Director of the Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata". He was an Academic Senator of the University of Rome Tor Vergata from 2001 to 2010, Coordinator of the Pharmacy Degree Program (English) at the University of Rome Tor Vergata from 2016 to 2017, and President of the Faculty Board of Microbiology MED/07 from 2011 to 2017. From 2003 to 2020, he was Director of Virology and later Microbiology at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic and then at the Niguarda Hospital in Milan. Since 1998, he has been responsible for the Laboratory for monitoring antiretroviral therapies at the IRCCS "L. Spallanzani" in Rome.
He is the author of approximately 600 peer-reviewed publications, the majority (557) of which are in international English-language journals (including Nature, Science, Lancet, Journal of Experimental Medicine, PNAS). His H-index (Google Scholar) is 68, with a total of 15,466 citations and a total Impact Factor of 2550.
In 2001, he won the Descartes Award from the European Community as recognition for the best biomedical research group in Europe.



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Prof. Maria Rescigno - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Humanitas University (HUNIMED) - Maria.rescigno@hunimed.eu

Maria Rescigno (H-index 73) is full professor, vice-rector and delegate to research at Humanitas University and group leader at Humanitas Research hospital, Milan. She graduated in Biology in the University of Milan and received her PhD in Pharmacology and toxicology. From 2001 to 2017 she has been the director of the Dendritic cell biology and immunotherapy Unit at the Department of Experimental Oncology at the European Institute of oncology. She was the first to show that dendritic cells actively participate to bacterial uptake in the gut and the existence of a gut vascular barrier that resembles the blood brain barrier. She authored more than 200 publications in high impact journals, including Science, Nature Immunology, Immunity, Science TM. She has been the recipient of three ERC grants (starting, proof-of-concept and consolidator). From 2019 she is member of the EMBO council.
In 2016 Maria Rescigno founded Postbiotica s.r.l. a spin-off of the University of Milan that exploits microbiota-derived metabolites as new pharmaceutical agents.
She received several awards ("Premio Roma per lo sviluppo del Paese", 2022 and the prestigious Pezcoller-Marina Larcher Fogazzaro-EACR Women in Cancer Research Award, 2023), including an honourable mention from Belgian Embassy (2022).



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Prof. Vittorio Sambri - Member of the Scientific Surveillance Committee of the INF-ACT Foundation

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università degli Studi di Bologna (UNIBO) - Vittorio.sambri@unibo.it

MD Degree (summa cum laude) in 1985 from the University of Bologna.
From September to1988 to May 1989 research fellow at University of California at Los Angeles (Supervisor Micheal A. Lovett).
Development and clinical assessment of recombinant antigens from T.pallidum and production of genetic mutants of spirochaetes. Ph.D. in Microbiology in 1991 (University of Genoa). 1990-2004: research assistant in the Laboratory of Microbiology University of Bologna. From January 2004 Associate Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology at the University of Bologna. December 2012 - present: director of the Unit of Microbiology, the Great Romagna Hub Laboratory. Vittorio Sambri was the founder and the first head (until December 2012) of CRREM (Regional Reference Center for Emergency in Microbiology).
Dr Sambri is presently the coordinator of the Emilia Romagna Network of Microbiology Laboratory. His scientific activity generated 268 paper published in peer reviewed journal. H-index (Scopus) 44 with 6432 citations.



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