Main research topics:
- epidemiology of parasites potentially pathogenic for humans with quantitative and qualitative research on Anisakid nematodes infestations in wild and farmed fish populations, prevalence studies and morphological and molecular characterization of plerocercoid larvae of Diphyllobothriidae and other Pseudophyllidea cestodes in lake fish species, study of the biological cycle and diffusion of digeneans of the genus Opisthorchis and genus Clinostomum in freshwater fish populations with morphological and molecular characterization of metacercariae; search for and characterization of protozoa of the genus Cryptosporidium and Giardia in bivalve molluscs;
- study of the parasitic diseases of wild and farmed aquatic animals and definition of their pathogenic effects on the host, with research on prevalence and intensity of infection of protozoan parasites and metazoans in aquatic animals and definition of risk factors and pathogenic effects of ectoparasites (flagellates, ciliati, monogeneans and crustaceans) and endoparasites (coccidia, microsporidia, myxozoa, digenei, cestodes and nematodes) in fish farmed in extensive and intensive systems and in wild fish; epidemiological studies on the parasitic fauna of large aquatic vertebrates (elasmobranchi, oceanfish, turtles and cetaceans);
- studies on Myxozoan parasites of marine and frshwater fish, conducting research on the etiopathogenesis of Myxospordiosis in wild and farmed marine fish, epidemiology of Proliferative Kidney Disease of salmonids and identification of invertebrate hosts, life cycle of freshwater Myxozoa and taxonomical and phylogenetic characterization of marine Myxozoa;
- studies on transmissible diseases of major importance in farmed fish, with particular reference to emerging viral diseases and to mycobacteriosis with regard to their implications in animal health and public health with epidemiological investigations on atypical mycobacteria in wild and farmed fish ;
- research on veterinary and public health aspects related to aquaculture in East African countries, with characterization of the main pathogens that can influence health and production indexes of farmed animals, definition of environmental and managementrisk factors, assessment of their possible implications in public health and development of protocols for prevention and control of diseases;
- development of innovative methods for the diagnosis of fish parasites of major importance in the European aquaculture in the framework of the H2020 European projects ParaFishControl and PerformFISH.
