WORK EXPERIENCE
- 01/02/2025 – today: Head of the Rheumatology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna (IT)
- 04/24/2023 – 03/14/2024: Member of the board of the PhD course in “Health, Safety And Green Systems” - 39th Cycle 2023/2024 - Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), Alma Mater Studiorum University Of Bologna, Bologna (IT)
- 01/11/2021 – today: Head of the Rheumatology BioBank and research laboratory (RheumaBank/Rheumalab), IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna (IT)
- 12/06/2021 – today: Associate Professor of Rheumatology, Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), Alma Mater Studiorum University Of Bologna, Bologna (IT)
- 25/11/2019 – 11/06/2021: Tenure-track Researcher (RTD-b) in Rheumatology, Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), Alma Mater Studiorum University Of Bologna, Bologna (IT)
- 01/12/2018 – 24/11/2019: Tenure-track Researcher (RTD-b) in Internal Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara (it)
- 01/01/2017 – 26/01/2018: European Commission FP7 Marie Curie post-doctoral research fellowship, Center for Experimental Medicine & Rheumatology (WHRI), Queen Mary University of London, London (UK)
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
- 19/05/2012 – 19/12/2016: PhD in Molecular Oncology, Experimental Immunology And Development of Innovative Therapies - SSD MED/16 Rheumatology, University of Catanzaro "Magna Graecia ", Catanzaro (IT)
- 30/06/2009 – 07/07/2014: Specialty training in Internal Medicine, University of Catanzaro "Magna Graecia ", Catanzaro (IT)
- 31/03/2009: Medical Degree, University of Catanzaro "Magna Graecia ", Catanzaro (IT)
NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC QUALIFICATION (ASN)
- 12/17/2023 – TODAY: National scientific qualification (ASN) for the functions of Full Professor in Rheumatology
GRANTS AND AWARDS
- 2021 – Principal Investigator of the project “Efficacy and safety of metformin in autoimmune rheumatic diseases ( RHeumatic disease and MetformIn – targeting Disease Activity: RHE-MIDA)” admitted to funding from the 5 x 1000 2019 funds – IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna. EURO: 15,000.00
- 2020 – Winner of the Rizzoli Research Awards 2020 - Top Junior Scientist
- 2017 – Winner, as Principal Investigator, of the competitive call with external peer-review CREARE 2017 (PFIZER Italia) for the multicentre project “ PReToRA ( Predicting Response to Tofacitinib treatment in Rheumatoid Arthritis )”. EUROS: 80,000.00
- 2017 – Principal Investigator and Scientific Director of the project “ MeTSS ( Metformin Treatment in Systemic Sclerosis )”, winner of the competitive tender promoted by the Ministry of Health "Finalized Research/Young Researchers" - 2016 (project code: GR-2016-02361286). Requested amount: EURO 347,700.00.
- 2016 – Winner, as principal investigator, of a competitive Fellowship co- financed by the European Community under the Marie Curie/H2020 actions (WHRI Academy 2016) at the William Harvey Research Institute – Centre for Experimental Medicine & Rheumatology – Queen Mary University of London (UK) for the project entitled " Therapeutic Antibodies ImmunoPET in Rheumatoid Arthritis (TAIRA)". Financing amount: EURO 139,687.50
- 2014 – Award ( fellowship ) Italian Society of Rheumatology (SIR) for the project "Expression and Regulation of SGK-1 in systemic sclerosis", November 2014. Total funding: EURO 25,000
CLINICAL TRIALS RESPONSIBILITY
Recent (Three-year period 2021-2025)
- 01/07/2025 – today: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR – Clinical Trial CAIN457I2401: ‘’A multicenter study of secukinumab, with a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled withdrawal-retreatment period, to evaluate maintenance of response in partecipants with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis who achieved remission".
- 01/13/2023 – today : PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR - Clinical Trial CAIN (NCT05758415) - Study of Efficacy and Safety of Secukinumab in Participants With Moderate-severe Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy (Novartis)
- 11/10/2022 – today : PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR - Clinical Trial GLPG0634-CL-336 (NCT05785611) - A Phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group program to evaluate efficacy and safety of filgotinib in adult subjects with active axial spondyloarthritis (Galapagos)
- 01/11/2021 – today: RESPONSIBLE for Research Project #1 (Pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy of inflammatory and degenerative musculoskeletal diseases) - Institutional research line 4 (Inflammatory, infectious, degenerative and/or genetic orthopedic diseases) at IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli
- 01/01/2020 – 05/26/2022: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR - Observational Study RA BE-REAL_101041 (Eli-Lilly)
PARTICIPATION IN EDITORIAL BOARDS
- 2025 – present: Topic Editor “Immunological mechanisms in degenerative musculoskeletal and metabolic bone diseases”, Frontiers in Immunology (ISSN 1664-3224)
- 2023 – 2025 : Topic Editor “Dissecting the Autoimmune and Inflammatory Effects of Post Acute Covid-19 Syndrome”, Frontiers in Immunology (ISSN 1664-3224)
- 2022 – present: Associate Editor, Frontiers in Immunology (ISSN: 1664-3224), section Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders
- 2017-2019: Member of the Editorial Board, Scientific Reports (ISSN 2045-2322), section Immunology
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
- Coordinator of all teaching activities in the field of Rheumatology at the University of Bologna
- Speaker or organizer at more than 90 congresses in the field of Rheumatology (focus: rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, post-COVID rheumatic diseases, osteoarthritis, CRPS, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia)
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Clinical research with main focus in musculoskeletal rheumatic diseases, with focus on rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, post-COVID arthritis, perioperative and interventional rheumatology, fibromyalgia.
Author of more than 170 articles in international, peer reviewed journals (H-index 33 – Scopus; H-index 51 – Google Scholar).
For details, see Scopus page: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=26641562200
