Rino Rappuoli is Global Head Vaccines Research at Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics and is based in Siena, Italy. His education includes a PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Siena, and stages at Rockefeller University (New York) and Harvard Medical School (Boston).
The main theme of Rino Rappuoli’s research has been bacterial pathogenesis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which pathogens cause disease was used as a means for the rational design of innovative tools to prevent infection. Research activities have included the pathogens C. diphtheriae, B. pertussis, Enteropathogenic E. coli, V. cholerae, H. pylori and Meningococcus.
He is co-founder of the field of cellular microbiology, a discipline that has merged cell biology and microbiology.
He is member of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). In 2005 he was awarded the Gold Medal by the President of the Italian Republic for his contributions to public healthcare.
He has developed the first recombinant bacterial vaccine (against pertussis) and a conjugate vaccine against meningococcus C. Both products have been approved for human use. Currently, he is involved in the development of a vaccine against group B meningococcus using a genome-based approach, which has been termed reverse vaccinology, in the development of influenza vaccines produced in cell culture, and the development of vaccines against avian influenza.
Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics
Via Fiorentina 1,
53100 Siena
Italy
Phone: +39 0577 24 31 110
Fax: +39 0577 24 30 79
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