Leonardo Rossi

Leonardo Rossi is Researcher of Applied Biology at the University of Pisa, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine. He graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Pisa in 1997. From March 1999 to July 1999 he received a Fellowship of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) for a position of guest researcher at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (UK). In 2001 he obtained a first Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology and Biophysics of Cell and Development and a second Ph.D. degree in Morphology and function of pathological and normal cells and tissues in 2004. From July 2004 to November 2005, he was a visiting fellow in the Special Volunteer Program of the National Institute of Health to conduct biomedical research at the NIH under the sponsorship of the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Center (Bethesda, MD, USA). His research activity was principally focused on answering the following biological issues: 1) Which are the molecular mechanisms or the microenvironmental factors influencing the maintenance of pluripotency or the differentiation of stem cells? How do these factors affect tissue regeneration capabilities? AND 2) Do proteins of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore play relevant roles in regulating tumor cell proliferation or viability? Are those proteins a potential target for cancer therapy?