Professor Francesco Blasi

obtained his MD degree summa cum laude in Naples, Italy in 1961. From 1962 to 1964 he worked at Max Planck Institut für Biophysik in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 1968 he obtained his Ph.D. (Libera Docenza) in General Pathology, and subsequently, in the period from 1968 to 1970 he continued his postdoctoral studies at the Laboratory of Chemical Biology, N.I.H., USA, under Dr. C.B. Anfinsen.

Professor Blasi is the Member of numerous scientific organizations, such as E.M.B.O. (European Molecular Biology Organization), Royal Danish Academy of Sciences, and Academia Europea,. For his outstanding scientific achievements, Professor Blasi has been awarded numerous awards and distinctions Fogarty Scholar in Residence Award, N.I.H., Dr. Honoris Causa, Faculty of Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (1993), and, in 1994 the International Society of Fibrinolysis and Thrombolysis Prize, among other honours.

Scientific interests of Prof. Francesco Blasi encompass transcriptional regulation of urokinase (uPA) gene expression and cell migration, cell proliferation and signaling, with special emphasis put on:

• Understanding the role of the uPA:uPAR mediated migration in physiological and pathological conditions (cancer, inflammation, infections).

• Understanding the molecular mechanisms allowing uPA/uPAR to control cell growth.

• Defining the uPAR interactome, i.e. the multimolecular complexes in which uPAR is engaged under different signaling conditions.

• Three-dimensional structure of the urokinase receptor.

Prof. Blasi is the author and co-author of numerous publications in highly-noted scientific journals: Blood, J. Biol. Chem., J. Cell Biol., PNAS, EMBO, Nucleic Acids Res., Oncogene, and J. Clin. Invest.