• University of Ancona Medical School, Italy M.D., 1987 Medicine
• University of Florence Medical School, Italy B.C.,1990 Allergy, Clin. Immunol.
• University of Ancona Medical School, Italy B.C.,1995 Internal Medicine
• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania B.C., 2001 Clinical Pathology

Research Interests: Our laboratory is interested in understanding the pathogenesis of the AIDS-associated depletion of CD4+ T lymphocytes. In particular, we are interested in the mechanisms by which SIV infection of natural hosts, such as the sooty mangabeys (an African monkey species) is not followed by CD4+ T cell depletion and AIDS despite chronic high levels of viral replication. This circumstance is strikingly different from the HIV infection of humans, or the SIV infection of non-natural hosts, i.e. rhesus macaques. Our studies focus on the host determinants that determine the rate of T cell depletion and progression to AIDS, and on the role that the host cellular immune responses play in suppressing virus replication, or alternatively, in inducing pathogenic consequences. We plan to apply these concepts to (i) the development of new, immune-based therapies for HIV infection (i.e., IL-2, IL-7) to be used in addition to standard antiretroviral therapy, and (ii) the design of T-cell-based AIDS vaccines that will generate memory T cell responses against HIV/SIV that may confer significant protection while not inducing any relevant immunopathology.