IN MEMORIAM

In this page we would like to remember Professor Santi Spampinato, the founder of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology Unit and our career-long mentor, who prematurely passed away on Monday 20^th November 2023.

Full Professor of Pharmacology, Head of the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology at University of Bologna.

Born in Catania on May 7th 1954, graduated magna cum laude in Pharmacy in 1978 at University of Catania. After graduation he joined the prestigious ”Addiction Research Foundation” at Stanford University to study and chatacterize endogenous opioid peptides  supervised by Prof. Avram Goldstein, who was among the founders of opioid system modern pharmacology. He started his Italian academic careeer as Assistant Professor at the University of Catania in 1982. In 1986, to expand his skills and expertise in the molecular and cellular pharmacology techniques that were emerging back then, he joined the “Mental Health Research Institute” at University of Michigan supervised by Prof. Huda Akill, also a pioneer within the field of opioid research.

He became Professor at University of Bologna in 1984 and was appointed full Professor of Pharmacology in 2001. At University of Bologna he served as President of School of Pharmacy from 2003 to 2009, and from 2012 to 2018, as well as President of Master Program in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology from 2010 to 2012. Moreover, he served as Director of Specialization School in Hospital Pharmacy from 2003 to 2021; he was also founder and Coordinator of the PhD program in Biotechnological, Biocomputational, Pharmaceutical and Pharmacolgical Sciences from 2010 to 2020. He was elected as Head of the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology in 2018 and confirmed in 2021.

Prof Spampinato contributed to founding the Italian Group of Molecular Neurobiology and has always been focusing his research activities in the field of Neuroscience and Molecular Pharmacology, specifically investigating endogenous opioid system-mediated modulation of central processes (e.g.: nociception, neuroendocrine regulation) and developing innovative opioid ligands. Throughout his career he had led many multidisciplinary research projects, also in cooperation with prestigious Italian and international universities and research centres, aiming to characterize innovative pharmacological targets and the related modulators, including opioids, integrins, ephrins and, more recently, within the frame of Quantitative Systems Pharmacology.

His more than 40 years-long career was characterized by a strong and contagious passion for research, a relentless dedication to teaching and mentoring generations of young researchers, the deepest respect for colleagues and institutions.

His passionate enthusiasm, scientific rigor, generous dedication, intellectual honesty, as well as the body of knowledge, skills and expertise that he passed down, will remain as a precious legacy for all of us: it will be our duty and responsibility to continue on the path he paved.

Monica Baiula, Andrea Bedini, Gabriele Campana