Jump to content

Antonio Giordano

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2.39.77.20 (talk) at 18:11, 14 July 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Antonio Giordano
Antonio Giordano
Antonio Giordano
Born (1962-10-11) October 11, 1962 (age 62)
Naples, Campania, Italy
NationalityItalian and American
Alma materUniversity of Naples Federico II
AwardsKnight and Commander of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic; Cross of Merit Melitense from Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Scientific career
FieldsOncology
Institutions

Antonio Giordano (born October 11, 1962) is an Italian and American oncologist.

Biography and Education

Giordano grew up in Naples, Italy, where his father, Giovan Giacomo Giordano, was an oncologist and a pathologist at the National Cancer Institute of Naples and a professor at the University of Naples. Antonio Giordano decided to branch out and start a research career more oriented to genetics applied to pathology.[1] Early on, while following his father's research, he became interested in the link between the environment and the effect of toxic waste with the increasing cancer rates in the Campania region in Italy.[2] Giordano earned his medical degree at the University of Naples in 1986, and he his doctorate at the University of Trieste in 1990.[3] He began to work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, New Yorkin 1988, working in a progra that dealt with the cell-division cycle.[1]

Giordano is president of Sbarro Health Research Organization and director of the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He works on molecular therapeutics , and also studies the connections between obesity and cancer.[4]

Sbarro Health Research Organization

Antonio Giordano met Mario Sbarro, the president of Sbarro, an international pizza restaurant chain, while at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.[5] Sbarro donated one million dollars to start the Sbarro Institute in 1993[6] at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. In 2002, Giordano moved his team to Temple University, also in Philadelphia. The Sbarro Institute was renamed Sbarro Health Research Organization (S.H.R.O.). The organization has a commitment in the mentoring of young researchers,[4] and is dedicated to finding cures for cancer and cardiovascular diseases by identifying their underlying molecular mechanisms. The new center includes the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine.[2]

The organization is funded through private grants and donations,[2] as well as several awards from the National Institutes of Health.[7] It holds the restricted license to more than ten patents for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the treatment of cancer. It has international partnerships with the Universities of Siena, Rome, and Verona,[8] In 2009, the organization was relocated into a 20,000 square foot facility at Temple University, the Biotechnology Research Center. .[9]

Research and discoveries

In his research throughout the years, Giordano identified a tumor suppressor gene, Rb2/p130, that has been found to be active in lung, endometrial, brain, breast, liver and ovarian cancers. He also found that if doses of gamma radiation are combined with this gene, it accelerates the death of tumor cells.[6] Giordano went on to discover Cyclin A, Cdk9, and Cdk10. Cdk9 is known to play critical roles in HIV transcriptions, inception of tumors, and cell differentiation,[3] They also play a part in muscle differentiation[10] and have been linked to various genetic muscular disorders. Giordano also developed patented technologies for diagnosing cancer.[1][unreliable medical source?]

Giordano has published over 400 papers on gene therapy, cell cycle, genetics of cancer, and epidemiology.[4] In 2011, Giordano and his team uncovered anti-tumor agents that might be effective in the treatment of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by prolonged asbestos exposure. Giordano and his team discovered that they could induce cell death without harming healthy cells.[11]

Antonio Giordano teamed up with Melissa Napolitano and Giuseppe Russo to determine if watching a computer animated avatar could assist women to lose weight.[12] [unreliable medical source?]

Giordano analyzed the environmental relations among toxic dumping and cancer growth for over fifteen years in Campania, Italy. The Camorra, the Neapolitan Mafia, was illegally disposing of their toxic waste, and politicians were covering it up for years. They were receiving money for dumping their heavy metals and compounds known to cause cancer. The toxic waste was burnt in fields and waste ground, in a region known as the Triangle of Death. In some areas, there was a twelve percent increase in cancer. Birth defects were also increased by more than eighty percent affecting the central nervous systems.[5] [unreliable medical source?] [13] [unreliable medical source?]

Awards and recognition

Giordano has received the Irving J. Selikoff Award for Cancer Research, the Rotary International Award, Lions Club Napoli-Europa . He has also been received the title of Knight by the President of the Republic of Italy.[11] At the 25th anniversary of the National Organization of Italian American Women, he was awarded the Cross of Merit Melitense, an honor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, from.[7] Dr. Riccardo Mastrangeli, Knight of Magistral Grace of the Order of Malta. [1]

Personal life

Giordano lives in Radnor, Pennsylvania with his wife, Mina, and three children. His youngest child, Luca, is currently pursuing a career in Latin American Studies.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Question & Answer: Antonio Giordano Sbarro Health Research Organization, president and founder With an eye to Italy Research scientist builds lab and lures fine minds from home". philly.com. Miriam Hill. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "'DR. HUSTLE' SELLS HIS DREAM FOR ITALIAN MEDICAL RESEARCH". Science. May 25, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Oncogene – Guest Editors". Oncogene. 25 (38): 5187–5188. 2006. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1209720.
  4. ^ a b c "Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine – Dr. Antonio Giordano". Science and Society. David Lemberg. December 9, 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Mafia finds new way to kill as waste trade is linked to cancer". The Independent. Michael Day. August 1, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Combining Rb2 gene with radiation therapy quickens tumor cell death, Temple researchers find". EurekAlert!. Preston M. Moretz. August 26, 2002. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Medicine: Dr. Hustle". Phillymag. April 29, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  8. ^ "Institute takes research model global". Philadelphia Business Journal. John George. May 29, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  9. ^ "Temple unveils Biotechnology Research Center". Philadelphia Business Journal. John George. October 27, 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  10. ^ "Temple lures star genetic researcher". Philadelphia Business Journal. John George. March 25, 2002. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  11. ^ a b Giordano, Antonio; Maio, Michele (2003). "Oncogene – Guest Editors". Oncogene. 22 (42): 6470–6471. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1206905.
  12. ^ "How the virtual world of avatars empowered women to lose weight". EmaxHealth. Kathleen Blanchard. July 2, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  13. ^ ""Biocide is corruption, I do not stop here is what to do." Talk Antonio Giordano". GardensGo. April 11, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antonio_Giordano&oldid=967688894"