Alvise Berti MD

Dr. Berti began his work in vasculitis while he was a medical student at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy. At the time, Dr. Berti recognized that vasculitis was not very well understood, and being both curious and motivated to further explore this group of diseases, he realized that he wanted to become a researcher in this field.

During his clinical specialty training he moved to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for a one-year fellowship in 2016-2017, where he worked under the supervision of Ulrich Specks, MD, and in collaboration with Eric Matteson, MD, and Kenneth Warrington, MD. Back in Italy, he finished his clinical fellowship and wanted to pursue another year at Mayo Clinic in 2019-2020 to improve his knowledge and contribute to research in vasculitis.

Dr. Berti officially started the VCRC-VF fellowship in November 2019 because he felt it offered the best program for conducting vasculitis-oriented research. The program allowed him to train with experienced mentors as well as participate in clinical research activities. “The fellowship provides young physicians with a valuable opportunity to enrich their professional experience,” Dr. Berti noted. “I’m grateful to the VCRC-VF for the opportunity and also to my mentor, Dr. Specks, for the support and continuous guidance I received.” Dr. Specks is a consultant in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, Minnesota, as well as a professor of medicine.

Dr. Berti was also involved in more clinical studies, with immediate implications for clinicians and patients. “The clinical research I have done focused on EGPA respiratory manifestations, specifically on severe asthma, a clinical manifestation present in almost 100% of the patients with EGPA that is usually poorly controlled by the immunosuppressive treatment, even after years from the vasculitis diagnosis, an aspect still overlooked of EGPA,” Dr. Berti added.

Dr. Berti is currently working as a clinician and researcher in vasculitis in his home country of Italy and is a consultant in the Rheumatology Department at Santa Chiara Regional Hospital in Trento. “I hope to continue to actively collaborate with the VCRC-VF while developing research activity on vasculitis in the center where I’m working,” he said. Dr. Berti is also near completing his Ph.D. in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Trento.