Giuseppe Remuzzi MD, FRCP

Giuseppe Remuzzi was born in Bergamo, Italy in 1949. Upon completion of his medical training at the University of Pavia in 1974, he received specialty training in Hematology and Nephrology at the University of Milan. Since 1975, he has pursued his academic career at the Bergamo hospital, where he was appointed Professor of Nephrology and Director of both the Department of Immunology and Clinical Transplantation (1996) and the Department of Medicine in 2011. Since 1999, he is the Director of the Division of Nephrology and Dialysis of the same hospital.

Since 1984 he also coordinates the Negri Bergamo Laboratories of the “Mario Negri” Institute for Pharmacological Research and the affiliated Clinical Research Center for Rare Diseases “Aldo e Cele Dacco” in Ranica (BG), a group of basic scientists, physiologists, pharmacologists, molecular and cellular biologists, pathologists and clinicians devoted to the study of human renal diseases and their corresponding animal models from the perspective of pathophysiology and therapeutic intervention. He touched major advances in many areas of nephrology.

Remuzzi studies have led to new insights into many disorders, including the interactions between platelets and endothelium, the pathophysiology of glomerular diseases, and the factors that influence the progressive loss of kidney function. Work focused on improving the outlook for patients with end-stage renal disease. Giuseppe Remuzzi pays tribute to the work of pioneers such as Barry Brenner, who delved deep into the processes behind the glomerular function and their possible reversibility. Early work on the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors to slow the decline of glomerular filtration rates proved dialysis was avoidable, not inevitable.

Studies on immunologic mechanisms that influence the survival of transplanted organs, understanding of immunologic tolerance in the disorders that are linked to autoimmunity, and finally, genetic diseases of the kidney have also been areas of investigation. Concerned by kidney donation shortages and deploring the current practice of discarding suboptimal donor kidneys, his team has shown that transplanting such kidneys in pairs is feasible and has set up an international effort to validate this approach. Giuseppe Remuzzi is investigating the kidney's ability to regenerate itself.