About me

At the age of 40 years, I served as Principal Investigator of a project on stem cells granted by the European Commission within the FP6-2004-LIFESCIHEALTH-5 program (“Development and preclinical testing of cord blood-derived cell therapy products”, acronym THERCORD, contract n° CE 18817, total grant €1,800,000). 

Then, I increased my scientific experience in the mesenchymal stem/stromal field (MSC) during an extended stay at the Stem Cell Research Institute and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine of the University of Pittsburgh and at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, University of California, Los Angeles, where I established a strong international collaboration with Prof. Bruno Péault, an outstanding and world-recognized group leader in MSC and regenerative medicine. And in 2010, my team and I demonstrated the superior regenerative capacity of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells isolated from cord blood compared to the adult counterpart in a model of acute kidney injury (last author, Stem Cells, doi: 10.1002/stem.293, 160 citations). This experience culminated in two clinical trials (Eudract Number 2011-001387-21, Eudract Number 2018-001162-42). To date, more than 30 patients have been successfully treated using our cord blood mesenchymal stem/stromal cells. 

In 2013 I have been one of the first pioneer researcher investigating the role played by exosomes and extracellular vesicles in regenerative medicine, and trying to connect extracellular vesicles and stem cell properties. This led to the publication of 10 articles in indexed journals and an international patent (Title: Extracellular vesicles and uses thereof). My most important scientific contribution in the EV field to date was the development of the first evidence that horizontal mRNA transfer through EV is a new mechanism in the MSC therapeutic effect (last author, Stem Cells, doi: 10.1002/stem.2557, 2017, 99 citations).

In 2016 together with a strong consortium (including a leading European expert of organoids, Meritxell Huch) I have been involved as workpackage leader in the new era of human organoids as possible replacement of damaged organs (“Production and characterization of endocrine cells derived from human pancreas organoids for cell-based therapy of type 1 diabetes”, LSFM4LIFE, contract n° CE 668350, total grant €5,120,275, 4 joint papers). And more recently my group and I developed a new 3D airway organoid model of inflammation for testing respiratory injuries (corresponding author, Environmental International, doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107200, 2022, 34 citations).

In 2020 thanks to an Italian grant (Plagencell, Call for the funding of network projects, Regional Foundation for Biomedical Research – FRRB; total grant €3,000,000) as workpackage leader I have developed the process to generate GMP-iPSCs from healthy adult donors for Plagencell clinical purposes as first GMP facility in Italy. 

To date, I have been awarded more than 10 million euros in competitive grants. This remarkable achievement demonstrates my excellent reputation as a ground-breaking researcher. 

During my fruitful scientific career, I have demonstrated my strong ability and commitment to establish, lead, or participate in national and international collaborations, attested by my extensive publication record with national and international researchers.

In the lab, I have been an inspiring and supportive mentor for graduate, national and international PhD, and postgraduate students. I consider the professional growth of my enthusiastic and talented students to be as important as my own.

Concerning the more translational aspects of my research, in 2005 I have been nominated as the Technical Director for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) units authorized for the production of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products by the Italian Ministry of Health. In 2007, I founded the first Italian public GMP unit certified by the National Agency of Drug (AIFA, Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco) for the production of cell therapies. Since 2017, I am the GMP Qualified Person and I have worked to support the proper use of stem-cell therapy in innovative regenerative medicine approaches and have personally helped to develop pioneering clinical trials.

I personally organized and I have been in the scientific committee of 14 international conferences. In particular, I have been the organizer of the first European conference on organoids (EOS-European Organoids Symposium), held in Milano Italy on September 2019 (just before the stop for the first lockdown), which had a tremendous international success with more than 200 attendees and outstanding speakers, expert in the organoid technology (i.e. Madeline Lancaster, Sylvia Boj, Emma Rawlins, Elena Cattaneo). I have been invited as speaker at 48 national and international meetings, and I participated to more than 80 national and international congresses. 

I published 121 peer-reviewed and indexed publications with more than 11657 citations (Scopus H-index = 38, Google Scholar H-index = 45).

These achievements are the credentials of my independent and creative thinking.