IGNAZIO ROBERTO MARINO
CURRICULUM VITAE
Born in Genoa, Italy, on March 10, 1955, Ignazio R. Marino graduated “summa cum
laude” in Medicine and Surgery from the Catholic University of Rome on October 30, 1979.
Board certified in General and Vascular Surgery, he was an Assistant Professor of Surgery from
1983 to 1990 at the Department of Surgery of the Catholic University of Rome, Italy (A. Gemelli
University Hospital, Rome, Italy), during which time he spent 4 years training in the 2 most
prestigious transplant centers in the world: the Transplant Center of the University of
Cambridge, directed by Prof. Sir Roy Y. Calne; and the Pittsburgh Transplantation Institute,
directed by Dr. Thomas E. Starzl.
In 1989, he accepted a permanent position at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh,
PA, USA), where he was appointed Professor of Surgery. He has been an attending physician
at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh; the
Associate Director of the National Liver Transplant Center of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center
of Pittsburgh (the only liver transplant department of the Government of the United States); the
Director of the European Medical Division of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and,
founder, and until 2002, Director and CEO of The Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation
and Advanced Specialized Therapies (a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center and the Italian National Government). Since November 2002 to date, Dr. Marino is a
Professor of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and up to June 2004 the
Director of the Division of Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery of Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital. From July 2004 through August 2006, Dr. Marino has been the Director of
the Division of Transplantation of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Dr. Marino was one of the 3 consultants chosen by the Secretary of the Department of
Health for the National Transplant Committee of the Italian Republic (1999-2002), a member of
the Regional Committee of the Organ Procurement Organization for the Region of Sicily (19992002), and one of the 5 members of the National Center for Transplantation of the Italian
Republic (2000-2004).
Dr. Marino has personally performed over 650 transplants, and was a member of the
surgical team that on June 28, 1992 and January 10, 1993, performed the only 2 baboon-tohuman liver xenotransplants in medical history. In 1999-2002, he performed the first series of
liver transplantation, from cadaveric and live donors, south of Naples, Italy, and, in the summer
of 2001, the first transplant ever carried out in Italy on an HIV-positive patient.
Dr. Marino is a member of 30, and the founding member of 2, scientific societies, and
has been awarded 86 prizes and public recognitions; he is also a member of the Editorial Board
of Transplantation, Liver Transplantation, Digestive Diseases and Sciences and of 12 other
international scientific journals. He has authored 675 scientific publications and 3 scientific
books. In 2005, Einaudi published his book in Italy, entitled “Credere e curare” (Treating and
Believing). The book deals with the medical profession and the influence that faith, deemed not
3-18-2011
only as a religious creed but also as compassion, solidarity and empathy towards all human
beings, has upon it.
In 2007, Ignazio R. Marino edited a monograph on analyses and expectations for the future of
the Italian national healthcare system ("Sistema Salute" Solaris ed.).
In 2009 Einaudi published Marino's book on bioethics, faith and civil rights, entitled "Nelle tue
mani" (In your hands).
Dr. Marino is the Founder and the President of the international not-for-profit
organization imagine (Improving Medicine and Growing International Networks of Equality),
www.imagine.org
In April 2006, Dr. Marino was elected Senator of the Republic of Italy. On June 6, 2006,
he was appointed Chair of the Standing Health Committee of the Italian Senate (XV legislature).
In April 2008, he has been re-elected Senator of the Republic of Italy (XVI legislature) and in
October 2008 he has been appointed, within the Senate, Chair of the Investigative Committee
on the National Healthcare System.
In the summer of 2009 Ignazio R. Marino ran in the primaries for the leadership position of the
Italian Democratic Party and obtained 14% of preferences.
In 2010, Ignazio R. Marino has founded the political think tank Cambia l'Italia (Change Italy),
www.cambialitalia.it, that he chairs.
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