What piqued your interest in medicine?
Several factors come to mind, including being exposed to the medical world by my father, and by having read various books dealing with general aspects of human health when I was a kid.
Was it a foregone conclusion that you would become a doctor?
Actually, I was all set to study law because of the promising and wide-ranging job prospects. Then a childhood friend told me that he was planning to take the medical school exams and asked if I wanted to join him, which I did. I passed and enrolled in medical school.
That seems quite arbitrary.
Yes, it was. In Italy, you have to choose your academic path when you’re quite young. I was just 17 and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.
What brought you to the United States?
I won an American Heart Association fellowship, which I used at Columbia University Medical Center to study how intracellular calcium leaks contribute to the development of diabetes in patients with cardiac disease.
Did you intend to return to Italy?
Yes, but I was fortunate to win an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant and a K99 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health [NIH]. The latter is the sole NIH funding open to noncitizens or those who don’t hold green cards. The only stipulation is that you have to find a tenure-track faculty position within two years.
And that led you to Einstein?
Yes—after a chance encounter. I was giving a talk in Argentina, and the chief of cardiology at Einstein [Richard Kitsis, M.D.] was in the audience. He approached me and said, “I liked your talk.” And that’s the story!
One of your NIH grants focuses on the role of calcium channels in metabolic and cardiac disorders. What do these channels do?
These channels control the release of calcium from the main calcium reservoir within the cell, which is the endoplasmic reticulum. We suspect that, after heart attacks, these channels play a role in heart failure. Moreover, they could be implicated in the mechanisms causing diabetes.
You’ve also studied various aspects of COVID-19. What are some of your findings?
Everyone was thinking that SARS-CoV-2 mainly targets ACE2 receptors on lung cells, which might explain why respiratory symptoms are so common in COVID-19. In early 2020, we were among the first groups to show that the virus also targets the endothelium—the cells that line the insides of blood vessels throughout the body and are also rich in ACE2 receptors. This discovery explains why high blood pressure, diabetes, and other complications are so common after COVID-19, as we have demonstrated in several clinical studies.
Where do you live?
Manhattan, very close to Central Park. It’s not Naples, but it’s not Death Valley, either. So I’m happy here.
And there are many good Italian restaurants . . .
Yes, although I prefer to cook at home pretty much every day.
What is your favorite Italian recipe?
Linguine alle vongole.
What do you like to do outside the lab?
I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, walking in Central Park, hiking upstate, especially at Storm King and Breakneck Ridge, listening to music, and playing it on diverse instruments. I’m currently trying to learn how not to bother my neighbors while plucking my bass guitar.
What is your favorite music and favorite Italian opera?
I like melodies—from rock to jazz, from opera to classical music. One of my preferred opera composers is Puccini, and my favorite among his works is La Rondine, unfairly considered one of his “minor” operas.
