Stefano Schiaffino
Professor Emeritus, University of Padova
Emeritus, Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM)
Education
M.D. University of Modena, 1963
Military service
Medical lieutenant, 1964-65
Positions
2000-17 PI and Vice-President, Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM)
1987-2010 Director, CNR Center of Muscle Biology and Physiopathology
1986-87 Visiting professor, INSERM U127 (Hôpital Lariboisière) and Institut Pasteur, Paris
1981-2010 Full Professor of General Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Padova
1971-81 Associate Professor of General Pathology, School of Medicine, Univ. Padova
1965-71 Assistant Professor of General Pathology, School of Medicine, Univ. Padova
Honors
1997 Doctor honoris causa in Medicine, Université Paris 7 – Denis Diderot, Paris
1988 Doctor honoris causa in Medicine, University of Umeå (Sweden)
Academies
2010 Member, Academia Europaea
1996 Member, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Roma)
1992 Member, Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Venezia)
Selected publications (before 2011)
Full list: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x8Y43UYAAAAJ&hl=en
Masiero E, Agatea L, Mammucari C, Blaauw B, Loro E, Komatsu M, Metzger D, Reggiani C, Schiaffino S, Sandri M (2009) Autophagy is required to maintain muscle mass. Cell Metab 10:507-15.
Schiaffino S & Partridge T, eds. (2008) Skeletal muscle repair and regeneration. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. XIV-380.
Blaauw B, Mammucari C, Toniolo L, Agatea L, Abraham R, Sandri M, Reggiani C, Schiaffino S (2008) Akt activation prevents the force drop induced by eccentric contractions in dystrophin-deficient skeletal muscle. Hum Mol Genet 17:3686-96.
Mammucari C, Milan G, Romanello V, Masiero E, Rudolph R, Del Piccolo P, Burden SJ, Di Lisi R, Sandri C, Zhao J, Goldberg AL, Schiaffino S, Sandri M (2007) FoxO3 controls autophagy in skeletal muscle in vivo. Cell Metab 6:458-471.
McCullagh K, Calabria E, Pallafacchina G, Ciciliot S, Serrano AL, Argentini C, Kalhovde JM, Lømo T, Schiaffino S (2004) NFAT is a nerve activity sensor and controls activity-dependent myosin switching. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 101:10590-95.
Sandri M, Sandri C, Gilbert A, Skurk C, Calabria E, Picard A, Walsh K, Schiaffino S, Lecker SH, Goldberg AL (2004) Foxo transcription factors induce the atrophy-related ubiquitin ligase atrogin-1 and cause skeletal muscle atrophy. Cell 117:399-412.
Pallafacchina G, Calabria E, Serrano AL, Kalhovde JM, Schiaffino S (2002) A protein kinase B-dependent and rapamycin-sensitive pathway controls skeletal muscle growth but not fiber type specification. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 99:9213-18.
Serrano AL, Murgia M., Pallafacchina G, Calabria E, Coniglio P, Lømo T, Schiaffino S (2001) Nerve activity- dependent specification of slow skeletal muscle fibers is controlled by calcineurin. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 98:13108-13.
Murgia M, Serrano AL, Calabria E, Pallafacchina G, Lømo T, Schiaffino S (2000) Ras is involved in nerve-activity- dependent regulation of muscle genes. Nature Cell Biol 2:142-147.
Schiaffino S, Reggiani C. (1996) Molecular diversity of myofibrillar proteins: gene regulation and functional significance. Physiol Rev 76:371-423.
De Nardi C, Ausoni S, Moretti P, Gorza L, Velleca M, Buckingham M, Schiaffino S (1993) Type 2X myosin heavy chain is coded by a muscle fiber type-specific and developmentally regulated gene. J Cell Biol. 123:823-835.
Lyons G, Schiaffino S, Sassoon D, Barton P, Buckingham M (1990) Developmental regulation of myosin gene expression in mouse cardiac muscle. J Cell Biol 111: 2427-2436.
Schiaffino S, Gorza L, Sartore S, Saggin L, Ausoni S, Vianello M, Gundersen K, Lømo T (1989) Three myosin heavy chain isoforms in type 2 skeletal muscle fibres. J Muscle Res Cell Motil 10:197-205.
Schiaffino S, Samuel JL, Lompré AM, Garner I, Marotte F, Buckingham M, Rappaport L, Schwartz K (1989) Non- synchronous accumulation of alpha-skeletal actin and beta-myosin heavy chain mRNAs during early stages of pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy demonstrated by in situ hybridization. Circ Res 64:937- 948.
Sartore S, Gorza L, Schiaffino S (1982). Fetal myosin heavy chains in regenerating muscle. Nature 298:294-296. Gorza L, Sartore S, Schiaffino S (1982). Myosin types and fiber types in cardiac muscle. 2. Atrial myocardium. J Cell Biol 95 838-845.
Sartore S, Gorza L, Pierobon Bormioli S, Dalla Libera L, Schiaffino S (1981). Myosin types and fiber types in cardiac muscle. 1. Ventricular myocardium. J Cell Biol 88:226-233.
Sartore S, Pierobon Bormioli S, Schiaffino S (1978). Immunohistochemical evidence for myosin polymorphism in the chicken heart. Nature 274:82-83.
Schiaffino S, Hanzlikova V (1972). Autophagic degradation of glycogen in skeletal muscles of the newborn rat. J Cell Biol 52:41-51.
Schiaffino S, Hanzlikova V. Pierobon Bormioli S (1970). Relations between structure and function in rat skeletal muscle fibers. J Cell Biol 47:107-115.
Schiaffino S, Margreth A (1969). Coordinated development of the sarcoplasmic reticulum and T system during postnatal development of rat skeletal muscle. J Cell Biol 41:855-875.
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
I initially studied the diversity of skeletal muscle fibers using EM and immunohistochemical approaches using specific anti-myosin polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies prepared in our lab. A major result of these studies has been the identification of regenerating muscle fibers based on the expression of a developmental form of myosin (Nature 1982). Another important result has been the discovery of a novel fast-type myosin, called type 2X, coded by a distinct gene, and a corresponding fiber type in mammalian skeletal muscle (JMRCM 1989; J Cell Biol 1993). During these studies, we serendipitously found that cardiac muscle cells are also heterogeneous in term of myosin composition, thus providing specific molecular markers that for the first time allowed to distinguish between muscle cell populations in atrial and ventricular myocardium and heart conduction tissue (Nature 1978). After a sabbatical in Paris, where I worked in Ketty Schwartz and Margaret Buckingham labs, I started molecular biology analyses of myosin and troponin muscle genes in skeletal and cardiac muscle. I subsequently shifted my research activity to cell signaling in adult skeletal muscle, focusing on the mechanisms that control fiber type specification and muscle hypertrophy and atrophy. Using an in vivo transfection approach, aimed at generating selective perturbations of different signaling pathways with constitutively active constructs or RNAi approaches, we were able to identify specific pathways that modulate muscle fiber size and fiber type (Nat Cell Biol 2000; Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001 & 2002). In collaboration with Alfred Goldberg and Marco Sandri we have defined the role of the transcription factor FoxO in protein degradation via the ubiquitin proteasomal and autophagic/lysosomal pathways (Cell 2004, Cell Metab 2007 & 2009).
ACTIVITIES FOR THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY
Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM)
In 2000 I founded with some colleagues of the University of Padova a private research center, the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) and have been acting as Vice-President of this institute for many years. The mission of the center is to study the signaling pathways that underpin normal and pathological cell function and to promote the interaction between basic and clinical scientists.
Generation of anti-myosin monoclonal antibodies
Hybridomas secreting anti-myosin monoclonal antibodies were generated in my lab and donated to the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank (DSHB), a National Resource created by NIH. Some of these antibodies (BA-D5, SC-71 and BF-F3) are widely used for fiber typing in skeletal muscle and are among the most requested in the DSHB collection.
Activity report as Professor Emeritus (2011-present)
Visiting Professor
– October-November 2024: CECAD, University of Cologne (lab Marcus Krueger)
– September-November 2022: Waseda University, Tokyo (lab Takayuki Akimoto)
– March-June 2019: Inserm UMR 942, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris (lab Jane Lise Samuel)
– December 2018: Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona (lab Pura Munoz-Canoves)
– August-November 2018: University of Copenhagen (lab Abigail Mackey & Michael Kjaer)
Major projects and research papers
During this period, I was involved in four major projects: i) circadian rhythms in skeletal muscle, ii) the role of the MRF4-MEF2 axis in the control of muscle growth, iii) single muscle fiber proteomics and iv) omics analyses of the human myotendinous junction. In addition, I wrote several reviews, mostly on muscle fiber types and muscle atrophy/hypertrophy, including a highly cited review in Physiological Reviews.
Circadian rhythms in skeletal muscle
Kenneth Dyar and Bert Blaauw, who are now independent investigators, generated in my lab muscle-specific and inducible knockouts of Bmal1, a master circadian gene. The most important result of this study has been the demonstration that the intrinsic muscle clock controls muscle insulin sensitivity and muscle metabolism (Mol Metab 2013).
Dyar KA, … Blaauw B, Schiaffino S, Uhlenhaut NH (2018) Transcriptional programming of lipid and amino acid metabolism by the skeletal muscle circadian clock. PLoS Biol, 16:e2005886.
Dyar KA, … Schiaffino S, Blaauw B (2015) The calcineurin-NFAT pathway controls activity-dependent circadian gene expression in slow skeletal muscle. Mol Metab, 4:823-33.
Dyar KA, … Blaauw B, Schiaffino S (2013) Muscle insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism are controlled by the intrinsic muscle clock. Mol Metab, 3:29-41.
The role of the MRF4-MEF2 axis in the control of muscle growth
We found that a member of the MyoD family of myogenic regulatory factors, MRF4, coded by MYF6, controls muscle mass by repressing myocyte enhancer binding factor 2 (MEF2) activity in adult skeletal muscle (Nat Commun, 2016). This unexpected finding opens a new perspective for preventing muscle wasting.
Moretti I, … Schiaffino S (2016) MRF4 negatively regulates muscle growth by repressing MEF2 activity. Nat Commun, 7:12397.
Single muscle fiber proteomics
In collaboration with Marta Murgia and Matthias Mann (Munich) we characterized the proteomic profile of the different fiber types in mouse (EMBO Rep 2015) and human skeletal muscle (Cell Rep 2017; Skelet Muscle, 2021). More recently, the changes in the protein profile induced by bed rest and spaceflight were also examined.
Murgia M, … Schiaffino S, … Mann M (2022) Signatures of muscle disuse in spaceflight and bed rest revealed by single muscle fiber proteomics. PNAS Nexus, 1:1-14.
Murgia M, … Mann M, Schiaffino S (2021) Protein profile of fiber types in human skeletal muscle. A single-fiber proteomics study. Skelet Muscle, 11, 24.
Murgia M, … Schiaffino S, Reggiani C, Mann M (2017) Single muscle fiber proteomics reveals fiber-type-specific features of human muscle aging. Cell Rep, 19: 2396-2409.
Murgia M, … Schiaffino S, Mann M (2015) Single muscle fiber proteomics reveals unexpected mitochondrial specialization. EMBO Rep, 16: 387-395.
The human myotendinous junction (MTJ): proteomic profile and single-nucleus RNA-seq While I was visiting professor in Copenhagen in the lab of Abigail Mackey and Michael Kjaer, I promoted a collaboration with the lab of Matthias Mann (Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Copenhagen) to analyze the human muscle-tendon junction by proteomics. This study led to the identification of novel MTJ protein markers. A single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) analysis has subsequently revealed the existence of subclusters of MTJ myonuclei with distinct gene expression profiles.
Karlsen A, … Schiaffino S, Kjaer M, Mackey LA (2023) Distinct myofibre domains of the human myotendinous junction revealed by single nucleus RNA-seq. J Cell Sci, 136:jcs.260913.
Karlsen A, … Schiaffino S, Mackey A, Deshmukh AS (2022) The proteomic profile of the human myotendinous junction. iScience, 25(2),103836.
Reviews & Editorials (selected)
Schiaffino S, Chemello F, Reggiani C (2024) The diversity of muscle fiber types. Cold Spring Harbor Perspect Biol, Aug 12:a041477. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041477.
Franco-Romero A, Sandri M, Schiaffino S (2024) Autophagy in skeletal muscle. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology. Aug 12:a041565. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041565. Online ahead of print.
Schiaffino S, Murgia M, Hughes SM, Reggiani C (2024) MYH13, a superfast myosin expressed in extraocular, laryngeal and syringeal muscles. J Physiol, 602:427-443.
Schiaffino S, Reggiani C, Akimoto T, Blaauw B (2021) Molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle hypertrophy. J Neuromuscular Dis, 8:169–183.
Schiaffino S (2017) Losing pieces without disintegrating: Contractile protein loss during muscle atrophy. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 114:1753-55.
Schiaffino S, Rossi AC, Smerdu V, Leinwand LA, Reggiani C (2015) Developmental myosins: expression patterns and functional significance. Skelet Muscle, 5:22.
Schiaffino S, Dyar KA, Ciciliot S, Blaauw B, Sandri M (2013) Mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle growth and atrophy. FEBS J, 280:4294–4314.
Ciciliot S, Rossi AC, Dyar KA, Blaauw B, Schiaffino S. Muscle type and fiber type specificity in muscle wasting (2013) Int J Biochem Cell Biol, 45:2191-9.
Blaauw B, Schiaffino S, Reggiani C. (2013) Mechanisms modulating skeletal muscle phenotype. Compr Physiol 3: 1645-87.
Schiaffino S (2012) Tubular aggregates in skeletal muscle: Just a special type of protein aggregates? Neuromuscul Disord, 22:199-207.
Schiaffino S, Mammucari C (2011) Regulation of skeletal muscle growth by the IGF1-Akt/PKB pathway: insights from genetic models. Skelet Muscle, 1:4.
Schiaffino S, Reggiani C (2011) Fiber types in mammalian skeletal muscle. Physiol Rev, 91:1447-1531.
Invited speaker (selected)
2024 Lecture on “Muscle fiber types and signaling pathways controlling their expression”, Institute of Biochemistry, University of Cologne, Oct 2024
2023 Bureš Lecture, Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Oct 2023.
2023 Keynote Lecture on “Endothelial cells and angiogenesis in exercise and aging”, 1st Symposium Lyon-Lausanne-Padua”, Padova, April 2023.
2023 Webinar on “Physiopathology of sarcopenic obesity”, Società Italiana dell’Obesità, Padova, Jan 2023.
2022 Lecture at National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Tokyo, Oct 2022.
2022 Keynote Lecture on “Fiber types in skeletal muscle: from antimyosin antibodies to single fiber proteomics to single-nucleus RNA-seq”, European Muscle Conference, Prague, Sept 2022.
2022 Keynote Lecture on “Muscle Cytoskeleton “, 2022 Padua Days of Muscle & Mobility Medicine, March 2022.
2020 Keynote Lecture on “Muscle fiber types”, 12th Munich Muscle Meeting (MMM), Dec 2020.
2019 Keynote Lecture on “History (and prehistory) of skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise”, Symposium of the Clinical Academic Group on Exercise, Copenhagen, Nov 2019.
2019 Seminar, Institut Cochin, Paris, March 2019.
2019 2nd Workshop “Skeletal muscle research – from cell to human”, Ljubljana (Slovenia), May 2019.
2019 Talk at the meeting in honor of Gillian Butler-Browne, Institut de Myologie, Hôpital Salpetrière, Paris, March 2019.
2018 August Krogh Club Seminar, Copenhagen, Oct 2018.
2018 Symposium on “Skeletal Muscle: from Molecules to Function” in honor of Prof. Carlo Reggiani, Padova, Oct 2018.
2018 Keynote Lecture on “The musculoskeletal system”, Conference on “Exercise, locomotion and musculoskeletal system”, Lyon, May 2018.
2018 Giovanni Salviati Memorial Meeting, Padova, March 2018.
2017 Closing remarks, Conference on “Metabolism in Action, Lifetime influence of genes and environment” – Copenhagen Bioscience Conferences, Favrholm Campus, Hillerod, Oct 2017.
2017 Keynote lecture on “Winding Paths in Muscle Research: A Personal Retrospective”, Gordon Research Conference on Myogenesis, Il Ciocco (Lucca), June 2017.
2017 Workshop “Skeletal muscle research – from cell to human”, Ljubljana (Slovenia), May 2017.
2017 Conference on “Advances in Skeletal Muscle Biology in Health and Disease”, Gainesville, FL, March 2017.
2016 Symposium on “Targeting skeletal muscle oxidative metabolism to treat human disease”, Imperial College London, Oct 2016.
2016 ECTS 2016, 43rd Congress of the European Calcified Tissue Society, Rome May 2016.
2016 Workshop of UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA), Manchester May 2016.
2016 Congress on “Muscle decline in aging and neuromuscular disorders”, Terme Euganee (Padova) Apr 2016.
2015 “The Saltin Symposium. Exercise and Integrative Physiology”, Copenhagen, June 2015.
2015 STIM Meeting on “Bench-to-bedside research on muscle wasting. Mechanisms and interventions”, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sept 2015.
2014 Lecture on “Circadian regulation of gene expression in skeletal muscle”, University of Copenhagen, Dec 2014.
2014 EMBO Conference “Molecular Biology of Muscle Development and Regeneration”, Acaya-Lecce, May 2014.
2013 August Krogh Symposium “Metabolism in the extreme and extreme metabolism”, Copenhagen, Nov 2013.
2013 Symposium “Muscle and matrix”, Borupgaard, Snekkersten (Denmark), Dec 2013.
2012 Conference on “The Biomedical Basis of Elite Performance”, London, March 2012.
2012 MYOAGE Symposium on “The aging human muscle”, talk on “Successful aging? Keep the rhythm!”, Copenhagen, Aug 2012.
2012 Keynote lecture on “The role of circadian rhythms in skeletal muscle”, European Muscle Conference, Rhodes (Greece), Sept 2012.
2011 Symposium “Exercise physiology: cellular and molecular aspects”, German Physiological Society, Regensburg, March 2011.
2011 International Conference “Amino Acid/Protein Metabolism in Health and Disease”, Santa Margherita Ligure (Genova), Apr 2011.
2011 EMBO Congress “The molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle development and regeneration”, Wiesbaden, May 2011.
2011 Seminar at the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Aug 2011.
2011 Conference “Molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle maintenance, wasting and repair”, Ascona, Sept 2011.
Organization of Meetings
2016 Symposium on “Bone & Muscle”, Congress of the European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS), Roma, May 2016.
2014 Golgi meeting “La comunicazione tra cellule neuronali”, Accademia dei Lincei, Roma, Oct 2014.
2011 5th National Congress of the Italian Society for Space Biomedicine and Biotechnology (ISSBB), Padova, Nov 2011.
2011 Workshop “The mammalian circadian clock: orchestrating physiology and metabolism”, Padova, Apr 2011.
Lectures to PhD and Master students, member of thesis committees
2022 Lecture to PhD students at the Institute of Sport Science, Waseda University, Tokorosawa (Japan), Sept 2022.
2019 PhD thesis of Manuel Dos Santos, Université Paris Descartes, Paris
2016 Summer School PhD course “Biomedicine”, Padova
2013 MyoGrad SummerSchool on “Basic Muscle Sciences”, Max-Delbruck-Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin
2013 PhD thesis of Marie Victoire Neguebor, Università Vita Salute San Raffaele, Milano
2012 Workshop Marie Curie ITN program MUZIC, Padova
2012 PhD Thesis of Ricardo José Ribeiro Soares, University of Coimbra, Portugal
2012 Cell Biology Master Course 2012-2013, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC, Paris
Advisory boards and committees
2023-27 10th Scientific Council, Commission “Fundamental Myology”, AFM-Téléthon, Paris.
2023 Council for Medical Sciences of the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Panel Metabolism, Copenhagen.
2020-22 9th Scientific Council, Commission “Fundamental Myology”, AFM-Téléthon, Paris.
2018 Committee for selection of group leaders at GReD, Clermont-Ferrand (France).
2017-18 International Peer Review Panel on “Metabolism”, Danish Council for Independent Research – Medical Sciences.
2016-18 Member of the jury for the selection of candidates, Institut Universitaire de France.
2016 Member of “Medical Sciences” panel, Evaluation of Research Quality (VQR), Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR).
2017 Member of the committee for the evaluation of projects submitted to ESA and NASA in response to “Bedrest Announcement of Opportunity” (Washington).
2017-19 8th Scientific Council, Commission “Fundamental Myology”, AFM-Téléthon, Paris.
2015-16 Coordinator of the Italian Space Agency working group on “Biomedicine and Life Sciences”.
2014-19 Scientific Council, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples.
2014-19 Scientific Advisory Board, “Institut Neuro-Myo-Gène”, Lyon.
2014-16 7th Scientific Council, Commission “Fundamental Myology”, AFM-Téléthon, Paris.
2014 Musculoskeletal Panel, ILSRA (International Life Science Research Announcement), evaluation of projects for experiments in the International Space Station submitted to NASA, ESA, JAXA and CSA (Washington).
2013-14 Review panel of the European Space Agency (ESA) for grants on “Bed Rest” and “Concordia Station (Antarctic)”.
2013-14 Selection Committee, Panel Pathophysiology, Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR).
2011-13 6th Scientific Council, Commission “Fundamental Myology”, AFM-Téléthon, Paris.
2011-12 International Peer Review Panel on “Metabolism”, Danish Council for Independent Research – Medical Sciences.
Ad hoc reviewer, consultant
– Grants: ERC, ESF, Wellcome Trust, ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche), Austrian Science Fund (FWF), Swiss Cancer Research, Danish National Research Foundation – Centers of Excellence, …
– Articles: Nature Med, Nature Cell Biol, Nature Commun, Sci Adv, PNAS, J Clin Invest, J Cell Biol, eLife, Development, Biomaterials, …
– Candidates for fellowships & positions: Royal Society, Australian Academy of Science, …
– Consultancy: Consultant, Clinical trial phase 2 (drug for treatment for DMD), Summit (Oxford) Ltd.
Visiting scientists in my lab
– Sammy Wing-Sum Siu, Research Associate, Chinese University of Hong Kong (July 2018).
– Tatiana Y. Kostrominova, Associate Professor, Indiana University, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Gary, IN, USA (April-June 2015).
– Nobuko Hagiwara, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, UC Davis School of Medicine, Davis, CA, USA (Sept 2011).
– Takayuki Akimoto, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo (2010-11). (Presently full professor in the Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University)
Grants, Fellowships
EC VII Program project “MYOAGE” (2009-14); Marie Curie ITN program “MUZIC” (2010-13); AFM-Téléthon (2013-15). Fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2021).
Alumni (recent)
– Bert Blaauw is Professor of Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova.
– Kenneth A. Dyar is Group leader and Head of the Division for Metabolic Physiology, Institute for Diabetes and Cancer, Helmholtz Zentrum München.
Accademia dei Lincei
As a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and of the Lincei committees on Health and on COVID-19, I have been involved in the activities of the Accademia aimed at increasing public understanding of COVID-19 and providing objective advice to the Italian government on this matter. In addition to several documents and statements, we published some papers on COVID-19:
– Forni et al, COVID-19 vaccines: where we stand and challenges ahead. Cell Death Differ, 28:626-639, 2021.
– Mantovani et al, Long COVID: where we stand and challenges ahead. Cell Death Differ, 29:1891-1900, 2022.
– Remuzzi et al, Drugs for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and its complications: An update on what we learned in the past two years. Front Pharmacol, 13, 987816, 2022.
I was also a member of the Lincei committee for the G20 Science (S20) on Pandemic preparedness and the role of science (Roma, 2021).
In 2023 I was a member of the organizing committee of the Lincei meeting on “Cell signalling: a meeting in memory of Tullio Pozzan”.
In 2024 I was a member the steering committee of the joint meeting on “Child Obesity: Early Years’ Interventions for Healthy Ageing” organized by Lincei with the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (London, Oct 2024).
In 2025 I was involved in the organization of a course of the Foundation “I Lincei per la Scuola” on “Correct Styles of Life” destined to the kindergarten teachers of Rome.