Born in 1957, in 1982 he received his M.D. degree with maximum cum laude from the Medical School of the University of Padua (Italy); in 1985 in the same University he obtained the Specialty Diploma in Endocrinology, and in 1990 the Specialty Diploma in Clinical Pharmacology. In 1983 he began his research activity in the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Padua, and in 1990 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Pharmacy. In 1989 and 1990 he worked at the University of Florida, Gainesville (Florida, U.S.A.), in the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Research directed by Professor Luiz Belardinelli. Since 1992 he has joined the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Padua, Department of Pharmacology and Anaesthesiology (now Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences), as Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology. His teaching activity for the Faculty of Pharmacy has included several courses in the field of Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Toxicology for the Degree in Medicinal Chemistry and in Pharmacy at the University of Padua, as well as the course of Pharmacological Bases of Therapy for the Specialty School of Hospital Pharmacy. Moreover since 1997 he has been teaching Pharmacognosy for the graduate students of the Herbal Medicine School at the University of Padua. His medical research activity is documented by 350 publications in scientific journals and 3 didactic books of Pharmacognosy. He has been mainly involved in the study in vitro of molecular mechanisms in the pharmacology of cardiovascular and urological systems, and in the in vitro investigation of antitumour drugs. He is interested also in the study of pharmacological activity of compounds of natural origin. A more recent topic of interest is the search of neoplastic and dysmetabolic markers of disease by using multivariate techniques of data analysis (data mining), with the aim of identifying new therapeutic targets for a more specific and personalized pharmacological therapy.
From 2003 to 2012 he was member of the Scientific Committee of Padova Botanical Garden (included in the UNESCO World Heritage List). In July 2013, till December 2015, he was president of the Libraries of the Scientific area of University of Padova. From October 2013 to October 2017 he was president of the teaching board for Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences (Herbal Sciences) degree at the University of Padova, and member of the management committee for Hospital Pharmacy Specialty School at the same University. Since January 2016 to July 2017 he was member of the Regional Technical Committee on Drug Evaluation, Regione Veneto (Italy). He has been reviewer of research projects for Alzheimer Association, American Heart Association and Philip Morris Grant Program for University Research. He has been reviewer of international Journals.