PROF. CLAUDIO NICOLINI Curriculum Vitae

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PROF. CLAUDIO NICOLINI Curriculum Vitae

1_ EDUCATION AND EARLY CARRIER

Claudio Ando Nicolini, born in Udine 4/4/1942, received his doctoral degree in Nuclear Physics in 1966 at the University of Padua where he was elected also President of the Student Representative Assembly in 1964-66. In 1967, he became Assistant Professor at Lecce University and in 1968 adjunct professor at the University of Bari, where he was until 1971 Researcher-Collaborator at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics, moving also from 1969 until 1971 to the United States, working at Brown University, MIT-Massachusetts Institute Technology and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Then, starting from 1972 he moved to Medicine at the Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, where after a period of intensive training and research in medicine he became a tenure-track Associate Professor of Pathology in 1974.

2_CARRIER PROGRESSION

He maintained a constant link all level mainly with USA, Europe and Russia, and partly with Japan and multinational companies, showing in 1983 a peak in his worldwide recognition when he was asked to chair the Symposium at the crossing of life and physical sciences (with 17 Nobel Prize winners participation) on the 150th Anniversary of Alfred NOBEL’s birth held in the Sanremo Nobel Villa upon the presence of the King of Sweeden and the President of Italian Republic Pertini . The next year indeed in 1984 was called as Eminent scientist to the Chair of Biophysics at the University of Genova Medical School and was named Science and Technology Advisor to the Italian Prime Minister in Rome. The constant link with USA, Europe and Russia gave birth in 1993 to the long range to the Fondazione ELBA Nicolini through the participation of both the Governments of Italy, Soviet Union and European Union and of several Research Institutions of USSR and United States. Only much later within the Fondazione itself originated in 2001 the Nanoworld Institute through the participation of several multinational industries and Research Institutions. Table 1 summarizes the Claudio Ando Nicolini progressive carrier which began in USA where from 1976 he won a competition for Professorship and Chair of Biophysics at Temple University Health Sciences Center and continued in Italy where he was called to the Chair of Biophysics at University of Genova by a special law explicitly referring only to eminent scientists with foreign nationality , like myself USA citizen since 1976 .

The Table 1 makes evident his strong links to multinationalindustries in Europe with the creation of new organisms carrying out industrial research and having Nicolini at the top (CIREF, Technobiochip and Polo Nazioanle Bioelettronica all having as consortium members FIAT, ABB,Montedison, ENI, STM ,… ). This openend new contacts with USSR in 1990 in a new Biochip project that continue up to now in the new Russian Federation. In 2008, was elected as a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences [W5,W6] and in 2010 Honoris Causa Professor of Nanobiotechnology and Biophysics in Lomonosov Moscow State University [W7,W9]. At the same time the three governments were providing big support for science and technology in the key area of biotechnology and nanotechnology also through his personal involvement with the Prime Minister Office as advisor for Science and Technology .

Table 1 Nicolini Carrier Progression in USA,Europe and Russia

1964_ _ _ _ _ 1974_ _ _ _ _ 1984_ _ _ _ _ 1994_ _ _ _ _ 2004_ _ _ _ _ 2014

1961______ITALY+USA

1974______USA,Univ+Majorana+NATO+NWJ

1985______EUROPE,Univ+Gov+INBB+ESRF

1987______INDUSTRIES,Ciref+Pnb+Tb+NT

1990______RUSSIA_Biochip+RAS+MSU

1993______Fondazione ELBA Nicolini, FP

2001______NanoWorldInstitute

All the above (Russian Federation, USA and Europe) finally converged synergically into the new

final institutions , namely ELBA Foundation Nicolini (W8) and the Nanoworld Institute .

As apparent from 2001 he was also President of the Nanoworld Institute , while from 1993 he was elected life President (W8) of the Fondazione Elba Nicolini ( On January 1 2015 he was elected Editor In Chief NanoWorld Journal in Santa Clara, California ( )

a_USA

During this period centered around his Chair of Biophysics and Physiology at Temple University Health Science Center he was also consultant of several International Organizations (NATO, NIH, NSF in USA, Frontiers Research in Japan, Russian Academy of Sciences, American Cancer Society);

Ettore Majorana International Center

On 1978 he was named Director of the International School od Pure and Applied Biostructures at the Ettore Majorana International Center and Foundation of Scientific Culture in Erice (W4).

NATO Advanced Study Institutes

From the same time he became Director yearly held in Erice (Italy) of fourteen NATO-Advanced Study Institutes .

b_EUROPE

In 1984, he moved back to Italy where he was called to Chair of Biophysics "per chiara fama" at Genova University Medical School staying until 2012 with a special law , The article number 4 of the Decree Law number 382 of the President of the Italian Republic dated 11 July 1980 establishes the legal procedure (see attached ref 1) to reserve a maximum percentage of the organic dotation of state tenured full professorship (never to exceed 5% of the total organic dotation of the given national faculty ) to be reserved to the direct call of the eminent scientists of foreign nationality which occupy analogous position in foreign Universities. The formal proposal based on the objective titles and eminent qualifications of the nominee by a two third vote of the full professors legally forming the given faculty ( a presence very rarely achieved nation wide). During this period he gave birth to two successful PhD programmes with a total 54 candidates being granted the PhD, one in Biophysics for 27 years and one jointly with Marburg University on Nnaobiotechnology for 8 years .

Italian Government

From 1984 to 1987, he has been Advisor for Science and Technology of the Italian Prime Minister Craxi, and from 1988 to 1995 he was President of the National Research Program on Bioelectronics. He was very active to start a radical reorganization of government research organisms , programmes and projects in all sectors of science and technology .

Multinational Industries

President of Industrial and International Research organizations (CIREF, Technobiochip); member of national and international academies; from 1990 President of Polo Nazionale Bioelettronica - Scientific and Technological Park of Elba, from 1993 founder and President of Fondazione EL.B.A. Nicolini.

c_INDUSTRIES

The multinational industries represented a strong support on all his initiative , namely:

CIREF

It represents the initial organism composed by the biggest multinational companies controlled by Italians which from the day after his arrival in IItaly appoint him to the Scientific Direction coordinating research activities at Agrate (STM), Novara (Montedison and Gruppo Ferruzzi), Saluggia (Sorin Biomedica) and Ivrea (Olivetti) , Genova (Elsag-bailey) towards new hardware, new drugs by recombinant engineering and structural biophysics, new organic nanotechnology , new instrumentation (AFM and LB) and new sensors for health and environment. This receive the support of the Italian government with a 8-years long Bioelectronic Resach programme.

Polo Nazionale Bioelettronica-Science and Technology Park of Elba Island

The Polo Nazionale Bioelettronica was constituted in 1990. At the beginning of its research activities, the PNB concentrated in the public domain starting numerous international collaborations with institutions and research organizations from Russia. United States of America, Europe and Japan. After the first years of activity, the PNB decided to take directly in its hands also the industrial research anc! the technology transfer issues of the overall bioelectronics, submitting a proposal for a Scientific and Technological Park at the Elba Island that was selected in 1994 by the MURST,Ea~ w~i de open competition with other 42 similar proposals. Many new members entered the PNB, among them SGS Thornson Microelectronics S.r.l., Finmeccanica S.p.a. (namely Elsag Bailey and Alenia Spazio), Sorin Biomedica through the membership of Ciref (an industrial consortium) aild Eurochem. It is worthy of note the participation of small companies from the Northeastern regions of Italy, such as AsseZ , Micro tech, High Vacuum Process, and of scientific institutes (Area Ricerca Trieste and Istituto Trentino Cultura-IRST). Other companies, such as Elsag Bailey Hartmann & Braun, are being recently joining the PNB to underline its international vocation. The PST Division is now consolidated in many industrial research projects developed in the R&D Laboratories set up in Marciana, Elba Island, on October 1996 and now organized in the six Centers previously described. This gave birth to a very successful Science and Technology Park of the Elba island in both fundamental and industrial area , recognized worldwide .

d_RUSSIA

As a result of his invitation to the Kremlin Forum for Peace in 1987 by Gorbachev and meetings

with several academicians, the idea of a new Biochip project was pursued leading to the successful intergovernmental agreement, called "Elba Project", on bioelectronics and biomolecular engineering signed on December 7 1990 by the Italian Minister of Research and University Ruberti and by the Vice-Minister for Science and Technology of the Soviet Union Bortnik, and later extended to the European Commission evolving into a long-range research project with multidisciplinary activities.

Biochip Project

Over the period of more than 10 years (W1), an exchange program of scientists has been established in the life sciences and recently in nano-biotechnology (the first worldwide). In these fields more than 800 man-months russian scientists, including 8 PhD candidates and 15 post-docs, worked under his supervision in Italy; while many seniors stayed for short research stages. Some of the results of strategic importance for future development of bioelectronics, bio- and nano-technology have resulted in numerous publications in major scientific journals and have been presented at international conferences. In addition, several patents have been deposited and gave birth to many successful companies.

Russian Accademy Sciences

Elected Foreign member of the Russian Academy of Science in 2008 with an unanimous vote also in front to the Presidium of the Academy .

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Elected Honoris Causa érofessor of Biophysics and Nanobietchnology in 2010 with an unanimous vote .

e_JAPAN

Associated with Riken Institute at Tokyo and with Tsukuba Research Center for several months durong 1988 that lead to large cooperation within the ERATO project and with the Polytechnique Institute in Tokyo (W11).

f_EL.B.A. NICOLINI FOUNDATION

In 1993 the Fondazione EL.B.A. Nicolini (W11,W8) was created as an outgrowth of the above "Elba Project" with participation of institutions from USA, Russia and Italy. For many years participate to the Fondazione with formally designed high rank officials the Governments of Italy and Russia . The Board of Trustee until 1997 has included two Nobel Prize winners as Prokorov and Rubbia. In 2005 he started several new lines of international cooperative research in Life Sciences (W1):

(a) with professor Josh Labaer Director of the Institute of Proteomics at Harvard University in the area of Proteomics (Nucleic Acid Programmable Protein Array and Mass Spectrometrry) and Genomics (Microarrays and Bioinformatics), which will be continuing for several years extending to Label Free approaches;

(b) with professor Jean-Paul Soulillou heading laboratories at Nantes University and CNRS in the

genomics of human organ transplants;

(c) with both Professor Christian Riekel and Professor Sean McSweeney, respectively heading ID13 and MX beamlines at European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble where in the last years were carried out experiments at the frontiers of structural biology in the area of microcrystallography and low angle scattering of proteins and of Langmuir proteins films, culminating during the six months of 2007 with a stage as Visiting Scientist;

(d) similar experience was successfully implemented between Marburg University and Genova

University from 2005 with the signing by Professor Claudio Nicolini and Professor Norbert Hampp of the first joint European Ph.D. Programme on Nanobiotechnology ;

(e) later in September 3 2007 an agreement on scientific cooperation with student exchange has been signed between Professor Nicolini Nanoworld Institute at Genova University and Professor Kirpichnikov Dean of Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University.

NanoWorld Institute

In order to apply for an open nation-wide FIRB grant completion set by the Italian Government the Institute of Biophysics at the University of Genoa (later merging in the year 2000 into the Department of Biophysical M & O Sciences and Technologies still chaired by Professor Nicolini in its first period 2000/2003), INBB, PNB-PST-Elba,ABB and Fondazione El.B.A., gave birth in 1999 to a strategic alliance entirely in the public domain aimed to create an international research center to be called NanoWorld Institute (NWI), open to ad-hoc cooperations with numerous private companies in large part members of the PNB-PST-Elba consortium (ABB, Centro Ricerche FIAT, Tattile, STMicroelectronics, Montedison, ACEA, EDISON, FKL Engineering, IBM Almaden, Orlandi, Antibioticos, Ausimont, Safilo).

As a result of the positive outcome of this open competition the NanoWorld Institute (NWI) was born on 5 October 2001 (W11a) in space provided by the University of Genova thanks to the award of a 6.000.000 (six millions euro) FIRB 2001 grant from the Italian Ministry of University and Research which has recognized in open competition the above defined NWI as Center of Excellence for Organic Nanotechnologies and Nanosciences. Within this context Fondazione El.B.A. Nicolini with legal site in Rome have acquired instrumentations and open new laboratories in Genova with his own detached personnel, formalizing the strategic alliance under the name Nanoworld Institute umbrella. The initial structure is shown in Flow Chart, which has a coordinating Board and an International Scientific Committee provided by the Fondazione ELBA ( shared with CIRSDNNOB created by the Universities of Genova and Sassari). From 2008 until 2010 the NWI relies strictly on the scientific and technological cooperation between the University of Genova Chair of Biophysics and the Fondazione ELBA involving FKL, ELBATECH, Marburg University, ESRF, Moscow State University and Harvard University. It is worth to notice that NWI has a structure well tested in the conduction of higher education up to the level of Master and PhD. Other administrative and financial details are provided also in Italian. In December 2010 he transfers entire instrumentation, research and administration to Pradalunga in Bergamo under the umbrella of Fondazione ELBA Nicolini .

3_RESEARCH AND NOTABLE FINDINGS

Table 2 summarizes the science and technology accomplishements over the years documented in the web accurately and objectively

Table 2 Nicolini Research Accomplishements from 1972 up to 2014

a_International Scientific Publications on Science Citation Index

b_World , European , Russian and Italian Patents

c_International Books

d- PDB deposited structures

e_Research Grants

f_Conferences series

Author of more than 517 scientific publications in total , namely more than 467 as full length papers in international scientific journals of the Science Citation Index and more than 50 as book chapters , 40 as WPI patents, 30 as books and 45 PDB deposited protein structures. Similar hase won many research grants from private and mostly public funds beginning in USA from 1973 and continuing after 1985 in Italy , Europe and worldwide for a total of over 60 million euro equivalent .

a.International Scientific Publications on Science Citation Index

His most significant contributions are in the areas of Biosciences, Biotechnologies, and Nanotechnologies, with the exception in his early life as nuclear physicist for the discovery with the Cambridge Group (Padua-MIT-Harvard) of the branching ratios of eta meson zero that establishes the properties and the quantum numbers [4].

• His notable findings in the fields of biosciences and biotechnology include:
  the discovery and clarification of the quaternary DNA structure in the human genome [5,6], until the identification of the structural subunit called fibrosome (and later on by other loop), associated to the single gene [7,8], suggesting first in 50.000 the maximum number of genes in human cells [9].
• the discovery of histones enzymatic modifications and of non-histones, extractable at 0,35 M and of their role in the control of cell function and of nucleosome structure[10, 11, 12].
• a new characterization of the cell cycle [13,14].
• identification and characterization of non proliferating G0 and Q cells[15,16].
• discovered the differential scattering polarized circular light, with application to defense and medicine [17,18].
• the pioneering of cell laser microfluorimetry [3] and image analysis in Biomedicine which have opened up new horizons in modern medicine [19, 20, 21].
• the pioneering of complex biomathematical models and pharmaco-enzymatic [22] and pharmaco-kinetic applied to cancer treatment [23].
• the 3D atomic structure of histone H1 in solution and human kinase CK2alpha in microcrystals [24, 25].
• developed a software for automatic sequential NMR assignement of amino-acids [26].
• discovery of the role of water in determining the established thermal and atomic structure of proteins [27].
• identification of genes in the control of cell proliferation in human T lymphocytes [28] and from human kidney transplants [29].
• identification of leader genes in the control of cell function by a combination of bioinformatics and microarray [30,31].
• identification of proteins in vivo medianta NAPPA microarrays [32].
• characterization of long-range protein Langmuir-Blodgett films using synchrotron radiation microGISAX [33].

b_ World , European , Russian and Italian Patents

Nicolini was one of the pioneers in the fields of bioelectronics and bio-nanotechnology through the development of nanocrystallography [34], sensors [35,36], SPM [37,38], materials [39,40], nanocatalysis [41], biomolecular devices [42, 43], LB and LS thin film technologies to obtain to heat-proof proteins [44, 45], lipids [46], fatty acids [47], organic materials [48], conductive polymers [49, 50], DNA Chip of new conception named DNASER applied to gene and protein expression [51], acidic porous alumina (APA) for detecting cholesterol [52] and bimolecular microarrays [53], nanomaterials for lithium batteries [54] and carbon nanotubes with biocompatible cardiociti [55]. Up to 15 Patents have been deposited in Europe for a total of over 40 .

c_International Books

Up to 30 full text books being written beginning with the first series of 14 associated with North Atlantici Treaty Organization (NATO) Advanced Study Institutes held 13 in association with 13 different Courses of the International Schhol of Pure and Applied Biostructure directed at the Majorana Center at Erice from 1979 to 1991 and one held in association with Fondazione ELBA Nicolini at Marciana in 1997. Two piublished in conjuction respectively with Nobel Symposium at Sanremo (Italy)in 1993 at the presence of King of Sweeden and President Pertini with participation of 15 Nobel Prize winners mostly coauthors and withwith an International Nanotechnology Conference at Creta (Greece), both chaired by Professor Nicolini. He held worldwide the ELBA Forum Series on Bioelectronics and the Pan Stanford Series on Nanobiotechnology still ongoing on Web of Science , in addition to write separate textbooks in key sector in both English and Italian .