Patrizia Pontisso (born May 16, 1955) is an Italian researcher, internist and academic. She is Professor of Internal Medicine at the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...

. She has published over 280 research articles and has several patents to her name. Pontisso is the former National Secretary of the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver (AISF). She is an active Member of several specialized Italian and international medical associations. Since 2019, she is the Educational Dean of the International Course of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Padua.

Education

After obtaining her High School Diploma, Pontisso attended the University of Padua as an Internal Student from 1977 at the General Pathology Institute and then at the Medical Pathology Unit of the Padua Teaching Hospital. In 1980, she graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Padua and obtained the Diploma of Specialty in Internal Medicine from the same University in 1985. In 1988, she received her Diploma of Specialty in Clinical and Laboratory Hematology. From 1983 till 1985 she carried out research at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and from 1986 to 1987 she conducted research work at

Rush University Rush University is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. The university, founded in 1972, is the academic arm of Rush University Medical Center. Rush University comprises: * Rush Medical College * Rush University College of Nursing ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Career

In 2006, Pontisso was appointed as Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Padua. Since 2002, she is the leader of the research group of Molecular Hepatology of the Medical Clinic 5 and responsible for the Liver Biobank. Pontisso also held several clinical and organizational appointments. She carries out medical activity in the field of Internal Medicine and Hepatology and she serves as Coordinator in charge of the Outpatient Services of the Medical Clinic 5 and of the Regional Reference Center for Liver Diseases at the Padua Teaching Hospital. In 2015, she was appointed Director of the Interdepartmental Research Center of Experimental Surgery.

Research

Pontisso’s research areas include natural history and therapy of chronic liver diseases,

pathogenesis Pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes from Greek πάθος ''pat ...

and molecular markers of primary liver cancer, molecular studies on

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. Fo ...

virus and

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

virus along with genomic analysis and functional studies of viral proteins. Pontisso's research career started with the study of molecular biology of hepatitis B virus and characterization of new recombinant vaccines at the Pasteur Institute of Paris. In early 1990s, Pontisso shifted her research focus on hepatitis C virus and provided the first evidences of clinical differences of HCV genotypes. She then conducted research on the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, identifying new tumor markers for liver cancer. Her research results provided information regarding the pathogenesis and progression of disease, highlighting the role of the SerpinB3 molecule in tumors of the liver, esophagus and colon. Her studies have led to the development of new technologies that involve the use of functionalized nano compounds for the diagnosis and treatment of early stage liver cancer. Pontisso has also conducted research on regenerative medicine and on the use of extracellular vesicles engineered to over-express SerpinB3. There are several patents registered in Pontisso’s name including ‘Diagnosis of liver cancer based on detecting SCCA1 protein’ in 2003 and ‘Serpinb3 Inhibitor for Cancer Treatment’ in 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pontisso, Patrizia Italian hepatologists Living people Academic staff of the University of Padua University of Padua alumni 1955 births People from the Province of Pordenone Women hepatologists Women internists Italian internists 20th-century women physicians 21st-century women physicians 20th-century Italian physicians 21st-century Italian physicians Italian women physicians