Silvio Garattini was born in Bergamo (Italy) on 12th Nov 1928. Diploma in
Chemistry. Degree in Medicine. Lecturer in Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. Assistant then Deputy
Professor at the Milan University Institute of Pharmacology until 1962.
Founder in 1963 and director of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research.
The Institute has now four locations (Milan, Bergamo, Ranica (Bg), S. Maria Imbaro (Ch)) and more
than 850 people.
He is a member of the Gruppo 2003 (a group of the most cited Italian scientists in
international scientific literature). Garattini's publications in Italian and in English in
international scientific journals, and texts on pharmacology, run into the hundreds. Founder of the
European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).
During the last ten years professor Garattini has been a member of various organizations,
among which: the
Italian National Research Council
(CNR) - Committee on Biology and Medicine; the National Health Council, the Committee for
Italian Research Policy, set up by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers; the Commissione
Unica del Farmaco (CUF) of the
Ministry of Health.
He has held the following posts: President of the UICC Committee on Antitumoral Chemotherapy,
President of the
European Organisation for Research and Treatment of
Cancer (EORTC),
Consultant to the World Health Organisation.
He was President of the European Society of Biochemical Pharmacology; member of the Committee
for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products (EMEA), Member of the CEPR (Committee of Experts of Research Policy) at the Ministry for
University and Scientific and Technological Research; Member Scientific Committee of the Lega
Italiana per la Lotta Contro i Tumori; member of the Board of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.
President of the Vth section of the Consiglio Superiore di Sanità; President of the research
and Development Commission of the Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA); President of the Angelo and
Angela Valenti Foundation and of the "Via di Natale" Foundation; President of the Technical
Commission for Pharmaceutical Assistance of the Regione Autonoma of Sardegna; Member of the
Strategic Committee for Welfare, Regione Lombardia. Member of the Comitato Nazionale di Bioetica.
Silvio Garattini is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Pharmaceutical
Medicine), London, and a member of numerous other Italian and international scientific societies.
He has received many awards for his work, including the French Legion d'Honneur for
scientific merit, and the Grand Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, and holds honorary
degrees from the Universities of Bialystok in Poland, and Barcelona in Spain. Most recent
prizes: Prize Ippocrate, 2003; Prize Mens Sana in Corpore Sano; Prize Nuova Spoleto, 2003; Prize
Angelo dell’anno; Alkmeon International Prize; International Prize Sant’Agostino Città di Bergamo;
Prize Il Campione della Scienza; Medal Natta; Prize Coppola.
In its 40-plus years, the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, under Professor
Garattini's leadership, has published more than 10000 scientific papers and about 200 books,
on topics ranging from cancer and its treatment to tumour immunology, neuropsychopharmacology, and
cardiovascular and renal pharmacology. More than 4000 young Italian and 600 foreigner graduates and
technicians have obtained specialist qualifications at the Institute.
