Universit� degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Unimore awarded the Laurea Magistrale in Medical Biotechnology to the President of the Consiglio Superiore di Sanità Franco Locatelli

The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia conferred an honorary degree in Medical Biotechnology on Franco Locatelli, President of the Consiglio Superiore di Sanità, during a ceremony held at the Department of Life Sciences in Modena.

The award, proposed by the Department of Life Sciences and approved by the Academic Senate, acknowledges Locatelli's scientific and clinical contribution in the field of paediatric oncohaematology, cell therapy and biotechnological innovation in medicine.

Franco Locatelli graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Pavia with 110/110 cum laude, subsequently specialising in Paediatrics and Haematology at the same University. From 2004 to 2010 he held the position of Full Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Pavia. Since 2022 he has been Full Professor of Paediatrics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

He is currently Director of the Department of Oncohaematology and Cell and Gene Therapies at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome and Coordinator of the Strategic Area of Haematology and Oncology at the same facility. In 2019, he was appointed President of the Consiglio Superiore di Sanità, the highest technical-scientific advisory body of the Ministry of Health. In December 2021, he was appointed Knight of the Grand Cross by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella.

His scientific activity has mainly focused on haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, with particular reference to the use of haploidentical familial donor transplants. He has contributed to the introduction of innovative protocols for the treatment of paediatric leukaemia and solid tumours, studying strategies to improve the efficacy and reduce complications of cell therapy. He was instrumental in the development of CAR-T cell immunotherapy, which revolutionised the treatment of leukaemias and lymphomas resistant to conventional treatments. He is credited with studies, published in the most prestigious scientific journals, that paved the way for the use of CAR T cells in solid tumours and the use of genetically modified cells for the definitive treatment of thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia.

Author of more than 1,400 scientific publications, Locatelli has obtained more than 69,700 citations in major international databases. He has directed and coordinated national and international multicentre clinical trials in the field of oncohaematology and is a member of scientific committees and working groups in healthcare and academic institutions.

The ceremony opened with greetings from the Magnificent Rector Carlo Adolfo Porro. Professor Lorena Rebecchi read out the reasons for the award.

‘With the Honorary Degree in Medical Biotechnology,’ recalled Prof. Marcello Pinti during his speech, ’we pay tribute to the work and career of a person who made research and the extraordinary results of his research work a tool put at the service of the common good. Professor Franco Locatelli is an internationally renowned scientist, an excellent clinician, an indispensable reference for the medical and scientific community and, I would like to add, also and above all a man who embodies the highest values of the profession of those who are part of the academic community, even more so in the medical field: rigour, passion and humanity.’

After conferring the degree, Prof. Locatelli gave a Lectio Magistralis, during which he illustrated how the use of advanced therapies, based on the use of genetically modified cells of our immune system, CAR T cells, has radically changed the therapeutic perspective of patients suffering from haematological or solid tumours. These therapies, Prof. Locatelli explained, thanks to pioneering studies conducted at the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome, are now also being used to treat paediatric autoimmune diseases characterised by particular severity, such as systemic lupus erythematosus. In his lecture, in which the fundamental value of the University and Research was often recalled, Professor Locatelli went on to focus on the extraordinary results obtained in international collaborative studies based on genome editing, a molecular surgery approach, which has made it possible to achieve emancipation from transfusion dependency in all thalassaemic patients treated with this approach.

‘Franco Locatelli - underlines Unimore's Magnificent Rector, Prof. Carlo Adolfo Porro - brought biomedical research into the concrete choices of medicine and public health. He made a decisive contribution to the evolution of paediatric oncohaematological therapies, paved the way for new applications of CAR-T cells, and guided crucial steps in Italian healthcare with competence and a sense of institutions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, his role was central in providing clear indications and coordinating responses based on the best available scientific evidence. As a physician, researcher and President of the Consiglio Superiore di Sanità, he faced challenges that required foresight and the ability to intervene at the most critical moments. The honorary degree is recognition of work that has left a concrete mark on the country's research and health policies.’

‘I am particularly honoured,' comments Prof. Franco Locatelli, ’for this extraordinary recognition received from such a prestigious University as that of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and I extend my deepest gratitude to the Magnificent Rector and the Academic Body of this University. The honour I have received is a milestone in my academic career, which I wish to share with all the Colleagues with whom I have had the privilege of working over the years, with the Bambino Gesù Hospital, where I have found the best conditions to put the research I have conducted to good use, and with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, which represents the academic milieu where Science and care for those who suffer are exemplarily combined’.   

Categorie: International - english, Notizie_eng