Pasquale Chieco University of Bologna, Italy

Dr. Chieco is an experimental pathologist, Adjunct Professor, Medical Biotechnology Program, School of Medicine, at the University of Bologna. He was the Director (2001-2013) of the Center for Applied Biomedical Research (CRBA) at St. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital in Bologna. His primary research interests currently regard cancer stem cells and the role of lateral signalling and inflammatory mediators in malignant tumor progression. Dr. Chieco started his scientific career in 1972 working on long-term in vivo bioassays on industrial carcinogens at the Institute of Oncology of Bologna. In 1978 he moved to the University of Texas where he worked at the Department of Pathology of UTMB, developing quantitative enzymatic histochemistry assays for liver toxic injury and tumors. On returning to S. Orsola Medical Center in Bologna in the early eighties, he has pursued his interest in the cell biology of human tumor growth. He helped found the CRBA in 2001, and since then has maintained an ongoing commitment to the organization and development of this new translational research center. He has published more than 150 papers in scientific journals and has contributed to 4 textbooks. Dr. Chieco is past (1998-2007) President of the Italian Society of Cytology.