Antonio Giordano

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Antonio Giordano, MD, PH.D., (born October 11, 1962), is the discoverer of the tumor suppressor gene Rb2/p130. A professor of molecular biology at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, he is the founder and president of the Sbarro Health Research Organization, the Director of the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, and the Director of the Center of Biotechnology at Temple University's College of Science and Technology. Dr. Giordano also serves as the Director of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Human Health Foundation (HHF), an Italian charity for basic medical research he founded with the President of the Banca Popolare di Spoleto, Giovannino Antonini. He is a 'Chiara fama' professor in Pathology at the University of Siena in Siena, Italy.

[edit] History

At 26, while a post-doctoral fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, Dr. Giordano discovered the protein p60, later named cyclin A, a substance that regulates growth in the cell cycle. Later, as an Assistant Professor at the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at Temple University's School of Medicine, he discovered Rb2/p130, a tumor suppressor gene which has since been found to be active in lung, endometrial, brain, breast, liver and ovarian cancers, and CDK9 and CDK10, guardians of the human genome. Research has subsequently shown that CDK9 plays a critical role in cell differentiation, particularly in muscles; HIV transcription; and the inception of tumors.

A native of Naples, Italy, Dr. Giordano earned his medical degree summa cum laude from the University of Naples and his doctorate in pathology summa cum laude from the University of Trieste Medical School. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York and at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (N.Y).

Since 1992, Giordano has been awarded twelve patents, with eight patents pending. He has published 310 papers on his work in the fields of cell cycle, gene therapy and the genetics of cancer. He serves on the editorial boards of a number of professional journals including Cancer Therapy, Current Cancer Therapy Reviews, International Journal of Oncology, The Open Cancer Journal, and The Women’s Oncology Review (Editor-USA). His work is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, as well as individual and program project grants from SHRO. He is most recently co-editor of a major oncology textbook entitled, Molecular Pathology of Gynecologic Cancer (Current Clinical Oncology) (Humana) published in 2007.

Dr. Giordano has been named a Knight of the Republic of Italy for outstanding achievements in cancer research, and has been honored by The National Association of Italian American Women for his achievements in the fields of cell cycles, gene therapy, and the genetics of cancer. He has trained over 200 young scientists and physician investigators from all over the world.

[edit] External links

Sbarro Health Research Organization

Human Health Foundation (in Italian)

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