Stephen J. Galli awarded Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in.

Doctorate Honoris Causa to Stephen J. Galli, Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.), who has revolutionized some traditional aspects of Immunology.

The Ceremony, scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, 2019 in the Aula Magna "Gaetano Salvatore" of the School of Medicine of the University of Naples Federico II, will begin at 11 a.m. with introductory remarks by Gaetano Manfredi, Rector University of Naples Federico II, Luigi Califano, President of the Federico II School of Medicine and Surgery, Annamaria Staiano, Director of the Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Francesco Béguinot, Coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Clinical and Experimental Medicine.

At 11:30 a.m. Gianni Marone, Emeritus of Internal Medicine, will give the Laudatio Academica by Stephen J. Galli. This will be followed by the Lectio Magistralis of Stephen J. GALLI, Mary Hewitt Loveless, MD Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology and Immunology Stanford University School of Medicineore.

He is a past president of the American Society of Pathology and the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum and has received the prestigious NIH MERIT Award, the Rous-Whipple Award and the Karl Landsteiner medal.

Of outstanding clinical importance is his discovery of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) for translational and therapeutic aspects of cancer. Stephen Galli's scientific contributions involve the identification of the molecular and immunological mechanisms that control the immune response during IgE-mediated reactions. He has identified the immunological and protective mechanisms of IgE and mast cells during sepsis. In addition, he identified the role of mast cell-derived proteases in the cleavage of venoms produced by numerous reptiles. The latter findings set the experimental stage for the identification and characterization of the IgE-FceRI system in immunological defense mechanisms in tumors. His research activity has enabled him to file 14 patents with the U.S. Federal Government Offices and is currently funded by 6 Grants provided by the National Institute of Health (Bethesda, USA).

His discoveries have important translational and clinical implications as they have enabled the identification of the protective role of immune cells and factors hitherto thought to be pathogenically relevant.

He is the author of more than 400 publications in the most prestigious journals with strict editorial control and is the editor of 10 books published by major international publishers. In the years 1990-2000 he was, according to ISI parameters, the most cited researcher.