Foto del docente

Enzo Spisni

Associate Professor

Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences

Academic discipline: BIOS-06/A Physiology

Director of First Cycle Degree in Biological Sciences

Curriculum vitae

Updated: July 2025

Enzo Spisni is an Associate Professor and director of the Translational Physiology and Nutrition Laboratory at the Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Bologna. He is a founder and member of the scientific committee of the Master's Degree in Nutrition and Health Education at the University of Bologna, and a professor there and in the Master's Degree in Organic Production at the same university.

He teaches the Physiology of Nutrition course for the Bachelor's Degree in Health Biology, the Nutrition and Environmental Sustainability and General Physiology courses for the Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences, and various courses on nutritional physiology and pathophysiology within the Master's Degree in Nutrition and Health Education.

Since 2008, he has collaborated with gastrointestinal specialists on various projects aimed at understanding the alteration of physiological mechanisms involved in the onset of intestinal and systemic diseases through the study of translational physiology. The research initiated and developed within these collaborative projects is increasingly directed toward understanding the complex interactions between nutrients and human physiology. These mechanisms primarily involve immunity, but also the enteric nervous system and the intestinal microbiome, a key element in integrating nutrients and host physiology. Ongoing collaborations include those with the Regional Reference Center for Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at the Sant'Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, directed by Professor Paolo Gionchetti, and those with the Department of Agri-Food Sciences and Technologies (Professor Giovanni Dinelli). Within these numerous and fruitful collaborations, Professor Spisni has significantly contributed to integrating a physiological and nutritional perspective into the more strictly clinical perspective of his medical collaborators. Preclinical and clinical studies aimed at evaluating the effect of nutrition on the regulation of gastrointestinal tract physiology, through mechanisms modulating the microbiota and chronic silent intestinal inflammation, are born from this integration. These studies have been conducted on both animal models and patients, in the form of pilot clinical trials or randomized placebo-controlled trials. He has recently begun to study the negative effects of plastics, particularly micro and nanoplastics, on human health.

As a nutrition expert, he collaborates with italian magazines and websites (e.g., Focus, Il Fatto Alimentare, Focus, Life, Vita e Salute, etc.) to disseminate accurate information on nutrition and the environmental sustainability of diets. He is a guest on several italian TV programs as a nutrition expert (Report, Patti Chiari, Mi Manda RAI 3, Elisir, Piazza Pulita, NEOS, etc.). He is the author of over 100 publications (Scopus, H index 32) in leading international scientific journals and of the university textbook: De Bellis-Poli, Alimentazione, Nutrizione e Salute (EdiSES) [https://www.edisesuniversita.it/scienze_di_base/debellis-alimentazione-nutrizione-e-salute.html].

He is the author of the popular books "I magnifici 20 per le tue difesa" (The Magnificent 20 for Your Defenses), published by Sonzogno, which has sold over 5,000 copies to date, and "Siamo Tutti Intolleranti" (We Are All Intolerants), from the same series.

He received his National Qualification as a full professor on August 3, 2018.

He collaborates with several companies in the food and food supplement sectors on projects aimed at developing innovative dietary supplements and functional foods.

From 2015 to 2021, he was the founder and CEO of the spin-off Targeting Gut Disease Srl, which focuses on the research and formulation of innovative dietary supplements aimed at modulating intestinal and systemic physiology. In July 2020, Targeting Gut Disease won a European project for the production of a dietary supplement capable of enhancing immune responses against SARS-CoV-2.

Since 2019, he has been a member of the scientific committee of Good Land, a multidisciplinary collective focused on experimenting with new models of agri-food regeneration.