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Prof. Gerry Melino from the University Tor Vergata of Rome, Italy has been invited by Prof. Jean Calleja-Agius to visit the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta. He had numerous meetings with many academics from the Department of Anatomy, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Applied Biomedical Sciences and the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Biobanking.

Prof. Gerry Melino, MD (Rome), PhD (London), Dr Sci hc (St Petersburg), is a Professor of Biochemistry & Director at the University Tor Vergata and the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge UK. He has created a major forum for discussion and innovation in the field of cell death in the last 25 years, being the Founder and Editor in-Chief of the journals “”, “” and “”, of impact factor 12.4, 9.0 and 7.0 respectively. He is also Editor in-Chief of the journal "Biology Direct" (BMC journals by Springer Nature), impact factor 5.5, having Prof. Jean Calleja-Agius as member of the editorial board. His scientific interests are focused on programmed cell death, apoptosis, in neural and epidermal models, where his contribution has been fundamental. Originally, he worked on cell death in the skin, i.e cornification; in particular on its molecular mechanisms, working in vitro and in animal models as well as in human genetic pathologies. He identified the role of transglutaminases (type 1, 2, 3, and 5) and their substrates (SPRs, loricrin, keratins) at biochemical and genetic levels.

There is a strong collaboration between Prof. Melino and the Department of Anatomy at the University of Malta, and he will be visiting again in early 2024 in order to deliver invited lectures and seminars to undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs and academic staff.