Napoleone Ferrara
Encyclopedia
Napoleone Ferrara, M.D., Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 is an Italian-American molecular biologist and is currently a Genentech
Genentech
Genentech Inc., or Genetic Engineering Technology, Inc., is a biotechnology corporation, founded in 1976 by venture capitalist Robert A. Swanson and biochemist Dr. Herbert Boyer. Trailing the founding of Cetus by five years, it was an important step in the evolution of the biotechnology industry...

 Fellow in tumor biology and angiogenesis. He is credited with identifying the human VEGF
Vascular endothelial growth factor
Vascular endothelial growth factor is a signal protein produced by cells that stimulates vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. It is part of the system that restores the oxygen supply to tissues when blood circulation is inadequate....

 gene and describing its proangiogenic
Angiogenesis
Angiogenesis is the physiological process involving the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels. Though there has been some debate over terminology, vasculogenesis is the term used for spontaneous blood-vessel formation, and intussusception is the term for the formation of new blood...

 properties, which formed the basis for the development of Genentech's bevacizumab
Bevacizumab
Bevacizumab is a drug that blocks angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels. It is commonly used to treat various cancers, including colorectal, lung, breast, kidney, and glioblastomas....

 and Lucentis monoclonal antibody treatments. For his VEGF discovery, he won a Lasker Award
Lasker Award
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary...

 in 2010.

Education

Dr. Ferrara received his medical degree from the Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia dell'Università di Catania (University of Catania Medical School) in Italy in 1981, and joined Genentech in 1988.
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