Napoleone Ferrara

Napoleone Ferrara (born 26 July 1956 in Catania) is an Italian-American molecular biologist who joined University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center in 2013 after a career in Northern California at the biotechnology giant Genentech, where he pioneered the development of new treatments for angiogenic diseases such as cancer, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and diabetic retinopathy.^[1] At Genentech, he discovered VEGF—and made the first anti-VEGF antibody—which suppresses growth of a variety of tumors. These findings helped lead to development of the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor, bevacizumab (Avastin), which prevents the growth of new blood vessels into a solid tumor and which has become part of standard treatment for a variety of cancers.^{[citation needed]} Ferrara's work led also to the development of ranibizumab (Lucentis), a drug that is highly effective at preventing vision loss in intraocular neovascular disorders.^{[citation needed]}

Napoleone Ferrara
Born	(1956-07-26) 26 July 1956 (age 69)
Alma mater	University of Catania
Known for	VEGF discovery
Awards	Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2013) Lasker Award Keio Medical Science Prize
Scientific career
Institutions	Genentech UC San Diego

Laura Perin, Napoleone Ferrara, and Matteo Garbelotto

Education

Ferrara received his medical degree from the University of Catania, Italy, in 1981. He did post-doctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined Genentech in 1988.^[2]

Current research

At UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, Ferrara, a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2006, is a Distinguished Professor of Pathology in the UC San Diego School of Medicine, where he will continue cancer drug research targeting angiogenesis.^{[citation needed]} He is presently focusing on investigating mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis alternative to VEGF, in particular the role of factors produced by myeloid cells and fibroblasts in mediating resistance to VEGF inhibitors.^{[citation needed]}

Selected honors and awards

For his VEGF discovery, he won the Lasker-deBakey Clinical Medical Research Award in 2010.^[3] In 2013, he was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his work.^[4] He has received numerous other awards, including the General Motors Cancer Research Award (2006), the ASCO Science of Oncology Award (2007), the Pezcoller Foundation/AACR International Award (2009), the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research (2011), The Economist's Innovation Award for bioscience in 2012, ^{[citation needed]} the Grand Prix scientifique de la Fondation Lefoulon-Delalande in 2005.^[5]

In September 2014, Ferrara was awarded the António Champalimaud Vision Award from the Champalimaud Foundation.^[6] In the same year, he received the Canada Gairdner International Award.

In 2023, he received the Keio Medical Science Prize.^[7] and the Prince Mahidol Award for Biomedical Sciences.