Address book

Contacts

Staff Structures

PAOLO BONALDO

Back to the list

Position

Professore Ordinario

Address

VIALE G. COLOMBO, 3 - PADOVA

Telephone

0498276084

Education and training
1986 Graduated with honors (110/110 cum laude) in Biological Sciences, University of Padova, Italy.
1986-1988 PhD Fellow, National Cancer Institute CRO−IRCCS, Aviano, Italy.
1993-1995 Visiting Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Gottingen, Germany.

Honors and awards
1986 Young Faculty Award for basic research, University of Padova.
1987 Young Faculty Award for biomedicine research, University of Padova.
1987 AIRC (Italian Association of Cancer Research) Fellow.
1993 EMBO Post-doctoral Fellow, Germany.
1994-1995 European Union Senior Fellow (Human Capital & Mobility Program).
2005 Civilitas Award, for his contributions in the field of muscular dystrophies.
2010 European Cell Death Organization (ECDO) Award.
2011 Gaetano Conte Prize for Basic Research, Mediterranean Society of Myology.

Appointments and academic career
1988-1990 Senior Investigator, National Cancer Institute CRO-IRCCS, Aviano, Italy.
1990-1998 Assistant Professor of Histology, University of Padova.
1998-2004 Associate Professor of Cell Biology, Medical School, University of Padova.
2005-present Full Professor of Cell Biology, Medical School, University of Padova.
2014-present Head and Director of the CRIBI Biotechnology Center (Research Center for Advanced Biotechnology), Italy.
Other Experience and Professional Memberships
1995-present Member, European Marie Curie Fellowship Association.
2003-present University of Padova Scientific Committee for Biology & Biomedicine, member and deputy manager
2004 Research Evaluation Board: Biological Sciences, University of Padova.
2004-2006 Continuing Medical Education Board, University of Padova.
2005-present Member, Italian Myology Association.
2005-2012 Board of Advisors for Research Projects, University of Padova.
2009-present Member, World Muscle Society.
2009-2011 School of Medicine Board for Advanced Research and Technology, University of Padova, appointed member and coordinator.
2011 Life Sciences Peer Review Committee, University of Padova.
2013-present Member, European Cell Death Organization.
2013-present Scientific Board of the Department of Molecular Medicine, coordinator.
2014-present Deputy manager of “Polo Vallisnery” campus of biology and biomedicine, University of Padova.
2014-present Animal Research Ethics Committee, member and scientific reviewer.
2016-present Coordinator of the Vallisneri Interdepartmental Research and Teaching Pole.

Research activity
Author of 146 full-length publications in peer-reviewed journals, journals (58 as first or last/corresponding author) including several high impact journals such as Nature Genetics and Nature Medicine. Total Impact Factor >900; mean Impact Factor: 6.5; total H-index: 46; H-index in the last five years: 37. Head of the “Matrix Biology and Functional Genomics” Unit at the Department of Molecular Medicine of the University of Padova. His team currently includes 1 senior investigator, 2 staff scientists, 4 postdocs, 2 PhD students and 2 postgraduate fellows. His research work has been founded, among others, by European Union, Telethon Foundation, and MIUR (FIRB programmes).

Notices

Teachings

Publications

Complete list of published work in PubMed:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=bonaldo-p

Research Area

He has a long-standing interest in extracellular matrix and its role in organ physiology and pathology. From 1986 to 1992, he used molecular and cell biology approaches for the study of extracellular matrix components. In 1993, he joined the team of Prof. Peter Gruss at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry (Gottingen, Germany) and completed his education in mammalian development and functional genomics. After his return to Italy, he focused on the elucidation of the in vivo biological roles of extracellular matrix molecules. His team generated transgenic and knockout mice for a number of extracellular matrix genes. One major achievement was the discovery of a muscle phenotype in collagen VI knockout mice and the demonstration that they are a model of human inherited muscle diseases. In a landmark study, his team elucidated the pathophysiological defects underlying collagen VI disorders and identified new targets for therapy (Nature Genetics 35: 367, 2003). He next elucidated the mechanism causing accumulation of altered organelles in muscle, showing that persistence of abnormal organelles and apoptosis are caused by defective autophagy and opening new venues for the treatment of collagen VI diseases (Nature Medicine 16: 1313, 2010). This pioneering work was the first demonstration that deregulation of autophagy plays a key pathogenic role in muscle diseases, and paved the way for investigating autophagy in other muscular dystrophies. His team also pioneered the finding that physical exercise induces autophagy in muscle (Autophagy 7: 1415, 2011). More recently, he demonstrated that collagen VI is a key extracellular component of the adult stem cell niche required to maintain muscle regeneration (Nature Comm. 4: 1964, 2013).