born in padua (italy) on november 3, 1938. medical degree on july
18, 1962, summa cum laude. "docent degree" (libera docenza) in
biochemistry, 1968. in 1964-67 nato fellow, then assistant
professor, at the institute for enzyme research, madison, wis, usa.
in 1969-71 acting professor of chemistry and of biochemistry at the
university of bologna, in 1971-75 at the university of ancona.
since 1975 full professor of biochemistry at the faculty of
medicine, university of ancona; since 1979 at the faculty of
sciences, university of bologna; since 1989 to 2010 at the
faculty of medicine, university of bologna. In 2010-2012 Professore
dell'Alma Mater; since 2012 Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry,
University of Bologna. Coordinator of the phd program in
“biochemistry”. member of the executive committee of the italian
society of bicohemistry (sib) and of the international coenzyme q10
association. past-president of the italian group of bioenergetics.
he is author of over 440 publications (>300 of which quoted on
medline since 1966), has been invited speaker at several
international meetings and invited author of several reviews and
chapters of books in the field of bioenergetics. his research in
the last 10 years mainly concerns the structural and functional
organization of the respiratory chain, in particular the role of
the coenzyme q pool and its membrane diffusion in electron
transfer, the presence of super-complexes of the respiratory chain,
and steady-state kinetics of complex i with emphasis on the
specificity of the quinone acceptors. he has also investigated
physio-pathological aspects of the mitochondrial function. in
particular he has characterized the production of oxygen radicals
by the respiratory chain and its role in pathological alterations,
including cancer, and in aging in relation to the mitochondrial
theory of aging. he has been long involved in studies on
mitochondrial genetic cytopathies, such as leber's hereditary optic
neuropathy and the neuropathy, ataxia and retinitis pigmentosa. he
is presently involved in studies of mitochondrial alterations in
cancer.
