Stefano Bertuzzi

Dr. Stefano Bertuzzi is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). ASM is one of the largest life sciences professional societies in the world, with more than 30,000 members and activities in 122 countries. Its mission is to promote and advance microbial sciences.

Bertuzzi has wide experience in science policy and scholarly publishing, and was a senior scientific executive at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Office of the NIH Director, where he advised Dr. Elias Zerhouni on a wide range of science policy matters. He led the U.S. government negotiations with the European Union to achieve funding reciprocity between the NIH and the EU. He also worked with the Obama White House to develop an information system to captures the benefits of scientific investments during the Great Recession of 2008.

He is one of the leaders who spearheaded the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) to fight the misuse of journal impact factor metric. He contributed to the NIH revision of the peer review system and to the development of the key public access policy for NIH funded research, which started the Open Access movement in scholarly publishing. He is the recipient of many national and international awards.

Most recently, Bertuzzi has led ASM's efforts to address the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This included working directly with the White House COVID-19 Task Force, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase access to diagnostic testing supplies and addressing roadblocks to coronavirus testing. Bertuzzi penned a New York Times editorial and an mBio editorial outlining testing roadblocks and emphasizing the need for microbiologists and other scientists to support clinical laboratories to help contain the pandemic.

Bertuzzi received a Master's degree in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biotechnology from the Catholic University in Italy. He served as Director of Neurogenetic Laboratory in the Dulbecco Institute Telethon Scientist in Milan, Italy. He has authored numerous research publications, editorials, and science policy pieces in top journals. He is a thoughtful leader in science and a fellow of the prestigious Aspen Institute and a member of the Cosmos Club. In 2020, the President of the Italian Republic bestowed upon Bertuzzi the title of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy, one of the highest honors in the Italian Republic.