Aurelia Santoro is an Associate Professor at the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC) of the Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna since 2024. Prof. Santoro has a solid experience in the molecular biology of aging and age-related diseases 'age. During his scientific career he has conducted studies on the activity and composition of the proteasome, immunoproteasome, hereditary and somatic variants of the mitochondrial genome and telomere length in pathologies related to aging and age such as Alzheimer's disease and diabetes. He currently focuses his research on nutritional projects as a strategy for healthy ageing.
Training
Aurelia Santoro obtained the Master's Degree in Industrial Biotechnology in 2002, with a score of 110/110 at the University of Bologna. In 2006 he obtained the PhD in Molecular Biopathology at the University of Calabria. In 2007 he obtained the II level Master's degree in Biostatistics at the University of Bologna.
Academic career
After her doctorate she was awarded numerous research grants (from 2006 to 2015) at the University of Bologna, in 2016 she became a type A researcher in the disciplinary sector MED/04 General Pathology, at the School of Medicine of the University of Bologna, with reference to the Department of Diagnostic and Experimental Specialist Medicine (DIMES). In January 2021 she became a type B researcher in the disciplinary sector MED/04 of the University of Bologna. In 2019 she obtained the National Scientific Qualification as Associate Professor.
Teaching activity
Since 2021 she has been teaching General Pathology and Immunology in the Degree Course in Nursing Sciences in Rimini and Molecular Pathology and General Pathology and Physiopathology in the single-cycle Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery on the Forlì campus.
Scientific activity
Aurelia Santoro has been involved in several national and international projects. She is currently PI unit of the JPI project EURODIET: Dietary Patterns in the Ageing European Population: an Interdisciplinary Approach to combat Overweight-Related Metabolic Diseases (2020-2023; Fund: 91000€). She was also PI Unit of the national project (Finalizzata-Ministero della Salute; Fund 90000€) Melanopsin retinal ganglion cells and circadian rhythms: function and dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease and aging (2016-2020), and member of the research team for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA): Ref.NP/EFSA/GMO/2017/01-Title: Literature review in support of adjuvanticity/immunogenicity assessment of proteins (2017-2018).
From 2011 to 2016 she was the scientific manager of the European project NU-AGE supervising all the activities: recruitment, biological samples collection and storage, nutritional trial, molecular biology measurements, database and data analysis and studying the effects of nutrition on inflammation and health in the elderly.
During her career, Aurelia Santoro spent training periods as visiting researcher at the Department of Biochemistry, School of Medical Sciences, in Bristol, UK, then at the “Mitochondrial Research Group” of the “School of Medical Sciences” in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK and at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany.
Institutional activities and academic assignments
Since July 2023 she has been a member of the VRA/VQR/RFO Evaluation Commission of the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences
From June 2021 to June 2023 she was a member of the board (Giunta) of the Department of Diagnostic and Experimental Specialist Medicine (now DIMEC).
Membership in scientific and editorial committees
Aurelia Santoro is a researcher (RTDb) at the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC) of the Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna since 2021. Dr. Santoro has a solid experience in the molecular biology of aging and age-related diseases 'age. During his scientific career he has conducted studies on the activity and composition of the proteasome, immunoproteasome, hereditary and somatic variants of the mitochondrial genome and telomere length in pathologies related to aging and age such as Alzheimer's disease and diabetes. He currently focuses his research on nutritional projects as a strategy for healthy ageing.
Institutional activities and academic assignments
Since July 2023 she has been a member of the VRA/VQR/RFO Evaluation Commission of the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences
From June 2021 to June 2023 she was a member of the board (Giunta) of the Department of Diagnostic and Experimental Specialist Medicine (now DIMEC).
Membership in scientific and editorial committees
Since February 2018 Aurelia Santoro is managing editor of the top journal in the aging field, Aging Research Reviews (IF: 11.788). She is also Associate Editor for the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (JACN) and also acted as Guest associate Editor for Mechanisms of Aging and Development in 2014, for Frontiers in Physiology in 2017 and for Frontiers in Endocrinology in 2018. She is also Review Editor for Frontiers in Endocrinology of Aging, and acts as reviewer for several international journals (Gene, Int.J. Alzheimer’s Disease. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, Genes and Immunity, Molecular Biology Evolution, Neuroscience Letter, Brain, PlosOne, Biotechnology Journal, Frontiers in Endocrinology of Aging).
She was member of the Nutrient Intake Optimisation Expert Group for micronutrients in elderly at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Europe and of the European Innovative Partnership for Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA)- A3 Action group on Frailty and Functional decline on behalf of the EU project NU-AGE.
She participated as member of the Scientific Committee in preparation of the International Conference on Mediterranean Diet and Health: a lifelong approach hold in March 2017 in Ostuni, Italy.
Awards
On August 2006 she won the “Medical Ellison Fundation” fellowship to attend the “Molecular Biology of Aging” course at the “Marine Biological Laboratory”, Woods Hole, Massachussets, USA.
Participation in congresses and conferences
Aurelia attended more than 60 national and international conferences as a speaker and/or poster presenter.
Aurelia Santoro published 105 scientific articles on international peer-reviewed journals with 6536 citations and an H-index of 40 (Scopus on February 26th 2024).
