Raffaele De Francesco, PhD

Raffaele De Francesco (RDF) earned a degree in Biology from the University of Milan.

Subsequently, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University, Atlanta, U.S.A., and at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.

Between 1991 and 2008, Raffaele De Francesco led several drug discovery programs at the Merck Research Laboratory in Pomezia, Italy. In 2008, he joined INGM as a Group Leader and responsible for the Virology laboratory.

In December 2019, RDF has been appointed as Professor of Microbiology in the Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences (DiSFeB) at the University of Milano. RDF is internationally recognized for his work on the molecular virology of viruses causing chronic hepatitis and for his key contributions to antiviral drug discovery.

RDF has more than 150 papers published in peer-reviewed journal and is inventor in many international patents. His current research interests focus on the identification of new therapeutic strategies for the cure of chronic and acute viral infections.