Salvatore Saccone

ACADEMIC POSITION

• Full professor of Genetics, University of Catania, Italy.

CURRENT LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL ROLES

• President of the CBUI (College of Italian University Biologists).
• President of the Biological Area Steering Committee, Dept. of Biol, Geol, and Environ Sciences, University of Catania, Italy
• Director of the section Animal Biology “M. La Greca”, Dept. of Biol, Geol, and Environ Sciences, University of Catania, Italy
• Director of the Genetic laboratory and the Confocal Microscopy laboratory, Dept. of Biol, Geol, and Environ Sciences, University of Catania, Italy
• Member of the Biological Area Board, Dept. of Biol, Geol, and Environ Sciences, University of Catania, Italy

​PREVIOUS LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL ROLES

• President of the Degree Programme in "Biological Sciences" (2017-2021 and 2021-2025)
• President of the Commission for the State Examination for qualification as a Biologist (2016 - 2018 - 2021 - 2024)
• Member of the National Committee for the Italian National Scientific Qualification (ASN), Scientific Sector 05/I1 - Genetics (2018-2021)
• President of the Master's Degree Programme in "Cell and Molecular Biology" (2012-2017)
• Coordinator of the Master's Programme in “Bio-molecular techniques for bio-medical and forensic investigations” (2014-2016)
• Coordinator of the PhD Programme in "Evolutionary and Environmental Biology" (2010-2014)
• Deputy Director, Dept. of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Italy (2010-2012)
• Deputy Director, Dept. of Animal Biology “M. La Greca”, University of Catania, Italy (2008-2010)
• Member of the AGI Steering Committee (2005-2006)

EDUCATION AND ACADEMIC CAREER​

• 1989: Degree in Biological Sciences, University of Catania, Italy
• 1992: ERASMUS PhD student and EMBO fellow, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
• 1993: PhD in Genetic Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy
• 1993-1994: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute Jacques Monod, Paris, France
• 1995: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Catania, Italy
• 1995-1998: Researcher in Genetics, University of Catania, Italy
• 1998-2001: Associate Professor of Genetics, University of Bologna, Italy
• 2001-2018: Associate Professor of Genetics, University of Catania, Italy
• 2018-present: Full Professor of Genetics, University of Catania, Italy

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

• 1989: "A. Marzullo Award” awarded by the University of Trieste for his Degree Thesis and academic curriculum
• 1990: "Degree Award” by "Consorzio Catania Ricerche" for his Degree Thesis
• 1992: ERASMUS fellowship, Leiden, The Netherlands
• 1992: Short-term EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) Fellowship, Leiden, The Netherlands
• 1993-1994: Post-doc fellowship, Institute Jacques Monod, Paris, France
• 1994: “PhD Award” awarded by “Italian Association of Genetics” for the best PhD thesis in Genetics
• 1995: AIRC (Italian Association Cancer Research) fellowship

SCIENTIFIC MEMBERSHIPS AND AFFILIATIONS

Current

• Member, Accademia Gioenia of Catania
• Member, Italian Genetics Association (AGI)
• Member, Italian Society of Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics (SIMAG)
• Member, CUTGANA – Research Center for the Protection and Management of Natural Environments and Agroecosystems, University of Catania
• Member, CRAM3RA – Research Center for Environmental Risk Analysis, Monitoring and Minimization Methodologies, University of Catania
• Member, CERNUT – Research Center for the Interdepartmental Research Center in Nutraceuticals and Health Products, University of Catania

Previous

• Member of the Executive Board, Italian Genetics Association (AGI) (2005–2006)
• Member, European Cytogenetic Association (ECA)
• Co-coordinator, with T. Cremer (Germany) and G. Bernardi (France/Italy), ECA Permanent Working Group “Chromosome Structure and Function – Interphase Nucleus Studies” (1997–2003)
• Member, International Society of Molecular Evolution (ISME)
• Member, Italian Society of Human Genetics (SIGU)

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES

• Editorial Board Member, Gene
• Associate Editor, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) – Molecular Genetics and Genomics
• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology – Chromosome and Chromatin Biology

SELECTED TEACHING ACTIVITIES​ (current courses in bold)

• BSc "Biological Sciences": 1) Genetics; 2) Molecular and Cytogenetic techniques; 3) Molecular evolution; 4) Environmental mutagenesis
• BSc "Biotechnology":1) Genetics.
• BSc "Environmental and Natural Sciences": Environmental mutagenesis
• MSc in "Experimental and applied biology": 1) Structural and functional genomics; 2) Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics.
• MSc in "Human Nutrition": 1) Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics.
• BSc "Environmental Sciences": Genetics and Mutagenesis
• MSc in "Health and Cell-Molecular Biology": Structural and functional genomics
• MSc in "Environmental Biology": Environmental mutagenesis
• MSc in "Cell and Molecular Biology": 1) Genomics of the Eukaryotes; 2) Developmental genetics
• MSc in "Environmental Protection Sciences": Genetic methods

ACADEMIC SUPERVISION

Since 2001, he has supervised 12 PhD theses, more than 80 Master's theses, and numerous undergraduate dissertations. 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Genome organization and evolution
• Chromatin architecture and gene regulation
• Genetics and functional genomics of rare and neurodevelopmental disorders
• Epigenetic and chromatin alterations in human genetic diseases
• Nuclear tau protein in aging and neurodegenerative diseases
• Environmental mutagenesis
• Forensic genetics

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS AND BIBLIOMETRICS (bibliometric indicators from Scopus)

Since 1991, he has co-authored more than 170 peer-reviewed articles in international scientific journals, as well as numerous contributions to national and international scientific meetings. His Scopus h-index is 39 (July 2026), and 27 when considering publications from the last 10 years.

Over the last five years, he has co-authored more than 50 scientific articles.

See also:

• Scopus
• ORCID
• Google Scholar
• ResearcGate