Giuseppe Remuzzi

Professor of Nephrology, Director of the Department of Medicine of the Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo (Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital), Italy and Director of the Division of Nephrology and Dialysis of the same hospital. He also directs the Negri Bergam Laboratories of the "Mario Negri" Institute for Pharmacological Research, a group of basic scientists 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. For example, his studies have led to new insights into many disorders, including the interactions between platelets and endothelium, 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 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 have set up an international effort to validate this approach. Giuseppe Remuzzi is investigating the kidney's ability to regenerate itself.

He authored and co-authored more than 1201 scientific articles, reviews and monographs and serves on editorial boards of numerous journals, he is member of the International Advisory Board of The Lancet and is Editorial Board member of the New England Journal of Medicine from 1995-2013. During his professional career he received the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) Jean Hamburger Award (World Congress of Nephrology (WCN) 2005, Singapore), the John P. Peters Award (American Society of Nephrology (ASN) 2007, San Francisco) and the ISN AMGEN Award (WCN 2011, Vancouver). In November 2011, he won the Third Edition of the International Award "Luis Hernando" assigned by the Iñigo Alvarez de Toledo Renal Foundation (FRIAT) in Madrid, Spain. He is, since June 2013, President of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) for the period 2013-2015.