Camillo Ricordi

Camillo Ricordi (born April 1, 1957) is an American-Italian physician-scientist working in cellular transplantation, diabetes research, stem cell and regenerative/healthspan medicine.^[1][2][3] He is a Professor of Surgery, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Microbiology, and Immunology at University of Miami, where he serves as Director of the Cell Transplant Center and Director Emeritus of the Diabetes Research Institute. He was named as fellow of National Academy of Inventors in 2017.^[4]

Ricordi was born in New York City and raised in Italy.^[5] He completed his medical education at the University of Milan.^[6] After obtaining his medical degree and completing military service in the Italian Air Force, he relocated to the United States for postdoctoral research.^[7]

From 1986 to 1988, Ricordi worked at Washington University in St. Louis under Paul E. Lacy, a pioneer in islet cell transplantation.^[8] He later joined the University of Pittsburgh, where he led cellular transplantation efforts at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplant Institute.^[9]

After graduating in medicine, he specialized in gastrointestinal surgery and digestive endoscopy at the University of Milan, graduating cum laude in 1988. During this same period he completed several complementary studies at the Washington University School of Medicine (St Louis, Missouri), in the Department of Genetics, and conducting training in immunogenetics and immunobiology of cell transplants.^[9]

After a period of military service in the Italian Air Force, where he worked as a medical officer with the rank of lieutenant, he joined as assistant professor of surgery in the Department of Surgery of the Division of Transplantation in the School of Medicine of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[9]

His professional career has been developed in the educational and scientific field mainly. He has been co-director of the Executive Office of Research Leadership (2001–2003), as Senior Associate Dean of Research (2003–2006) and has chaired the Dean's Research Office (2006–2012) at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami.^[10]

Ricordi is Professor of Surgery at Stacy Joy Goodman, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami, Florida, where he also appears as Director of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) and the Cell Transplant Center.^[2][6][11]

He is also a Head of the Human Cell Processing Facility, funded by NIH, which has been providing human cell products for research and clinical applications at the University of Miami, Florida, and throughout the world since 1993.^[12]

He was part of a team in 1986 at the Washington University in St. Louis that pioneered what is known as the islet transplant procedure, developed to address the worst cases of diabetes type 1.^[13] He is credited with developing the automated method for islet cell isolation called the "Ricordi Method."^[14][15] The method includes the use of the Ricordi Chamber, for which Ricordi was awarded, for Surgery, the Nessim-Habif World Prize, University of Geneva in 2001. The award is given to the invention of a machine that allows progress to be made significant in a field of surgery. Ricordi's invention of the automated islet isolation method made it possible to obtain a greater number of islets of a human pancreas; before they needed up to five or six organs to carry out a transplant.^[14]

Ricordi has been published in academic and medical journals, has over 1,778 scientific publications, >51,104 citations and an h-index of 113. He has been awarded 28 patents as an inventor.^[16][17][18] He has participated in congresses and meetings on isolation and transplantation of islets for the treatment of diabetes.^[19][20]

In 2021, Ricordi was named editor-in-chief of the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences.^[21]

Ricordi has supported the development of international research consortia and technological platforms aimed at facilitating global scientific collaboration. He was a founding president of The Cure Alliance and chaired the Diabetes Research Institute Federation, a network of institutions focused on cure-based diabetes research.

He has also been serving as President of the Board of ISMETT (Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione) since 2004, a transplant and research center in Palermo, Italy, and served as President of Fondazione Ri.MED, a biotechnology initiative supported by the Italian government and the University of Pittsburgh Medica Center (UPMC).^[22]

Islet Cell Transplantation

Ricordi is recognized for developing a method to isolate large numbers of pancreatic islets the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas from donor organs.^[23] This advancement made it possible to perform the first successful clinical islet allotransplants, a procedure in which islets are infused into a patient’s liver to restore insulin production in individuals with Type 1 diabetes. ^[24]

His isolation method became the foundation for clinical protocols worldwide and contributed to multicenter clinical trials supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).^[4]

• 2002 Provost Award from the University of Miami for its academic activity.^[25]
• 2002 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award of the ADA (American Diabetes Association) (San Francisco, CA)^[26]
• 2002 Recipient of the Carl Gustav Groth Lecture Award, Nobel Forum (Stockholm, Sweden)^[26]
• 2006 Awarded the Lois Pope LIFE International Research Award^[27]
• 2006 Paul Harris Fellowship Award (Rotary International)^[28]
• 2006 Roche Award for Outstanding Achievement in Transplant Science (Clinic)^[29]