Francesco Di Virgilio

Professor Francesco Di Virgilio is Professor of Clinical Pathology, University of Ferrara, Head of the Postgraduate School in Clinical Pathology and of the PhD School in Molecular Medicine and Pharmacology. He has published over 270 scientific papers, of which over 200 on purinergic receptor signaling, making him the most quoted investigator in P2X7 scientific literature worldwide, was an inventor of 3 international patents and his corporate experience includes being on the Scientific Advisory Board of Duska Therapeutics Inc and Affectis Pharmaceuticals AG. He obtained a Medical Degree (MD) from the University of Padova.

From 1982-83 he was an Honorary Research Assistant at the University College London and in 1986-7 a Visiting Fellow, Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, before becoming Associate Professor of Molecular Pathology at the University of Padova in 1988, and Professor of General Pathology at the University of Ferrara in 1992. He was Chairman of the Centre of Excellence for the Study of Inflammation (2001-2010), Deputy-Rector for Research and Technology Transfer of the University of Ferrara (2011-2015), and consultant with Janssen Pharmaceuticals from March to September 2017. He is a member of the Faculty of 1000, Cell Biology Section, an Academic Member of the European Academy of Tumor Immunology, and a Member of Academia Europea.