VITTORIO PICCHIO

Current Position:
Tenure Track Researcher (RTT) in Laboratory Medicine Techniques (MEDS-26/A)
Department of Medical-Surgical Science and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome.
Work address: Corso della Repubblica, 79. Latina.

Education/Qualifications:
PhD degree in Life Sciences, XXXIII cycle at “Sapienza” University of Rome. Title of the dissertation: ”Effects of autophagy modulation on survival and phenotype of primitive cardiac stromal cells”, 16/02/2021.

Master Degree. Graduated with honours (110/110 cum laude) in Medical Biotechnologies at Sapienza University of Rome. Experimental dissertation: “Human lung progenitor cells: spheroids culture to study the cytoprotective mechanisms of ex vivo lung perfusion”, 26/01/2017.

Bachelor’s Degree. Graduated with 99/110 in Biotechnologies at “Università degli Studi di Siena”—experimental dissertation: “Molecular analysis of the B-lymphocytes receptor with NGS”, 15/04/2014.

Professional and Research experience:
Oct/2025-Ongoing
Tenure Track Researcher (RTT). Department of Medical-Surgical Science and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome.

Sep/2023-Sep/2025
Research collaborator under the project “granUlar difiNition of Dual andvtriplE antithRombotic STrAtegies for risk-beNefit traDeoff: the UNDERSTAND study. NextGeneration EU project. Angiocardioneurology Department, IRCCS Neuromed Pozzilli.

Jul/2022- Aug/2023
Post-doctoral Scholarship under the project "Impact of chronic use and secondhand smoke of Heatnot-burn cigarettes on endothelial dysfunction and thrombus formation ", Department of Medical-Surgical Science and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome.

Feb/2021- Jan/2022
Post-doctoral Scholarship under the project “Impact of autophagy activation on cardiac remodeling and vascular damage: a translational study”, Department of Medical-Surgical Science and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome.

Jan/2019- Apr/2019
Visiting student in Prof. Susana Costantino Santos laboratory, Instituto de Biologia Molecular (I.M.M), Lisboa University, PT. Research topic: early mechanisms of cardiotoxicity in a radiotherapy rat model, T4.2.1 of the MEDIRAD HORIZON 2020 project.

Nov/2017- Dec/2020
Graduate School internship, PhD in Life Science. Tutor: Isotta Chimenti. Experimental Cardiovascular Pathology Lab, Department of Medical-Surgical Science and Biotechnologies, "Sapienza” University of Rome. Research topics: study of the cardiac stroma in response to cardiovascular insults (e.g. smoke, radiotherapy) and of protective mechanisms (e.g. autophagy)

Publications:
1. Cozzolino C, Floris E, Icolaro F, Pontocorvi V, Bordin A, Frati G, Pagano F, De Falco E, Picchio V*(Co-Last Author, Co-corresponding), Chimenti I. Sirtuin-mediated modulation of cardiac fibrosis: Emerging molecular insights and therapeutic perspectives. Pharmacol Res. 2025 Sep 24;221:107970. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2025.107970.

2. Totè CM, Capponi M, Salvatori F, Zicari AM, Guido CA, Brindisi G, Iantorno L, Bartimoccia S, Baratta F, Forte M, Picchio V, Malvasi M, Aloisio S, Pacella E, Pignatelli P, Violi F, Carnevale R, Spalice A, Loffredo L. Oxidative Stress and Low-Grade Endotoxemia in Pediatric AcuteOnset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS): Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study. Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jul 1;26(13):6336. doi: 10.3390/ijms26136336. (IF:4.9)

3. Chimenti I, Pagano F, Cozzolino C, Icolaro F, Floris E, Picchio V. The Role of Cardiac Fibroblast Heterogeneity in Myocardial Fibrosis and Its Novel Therapeutic Potential. Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jun 19;26(12):5882. doi: 10.3390/ijms26125882. (IF:4.9)

4. Picchio V, Pontecorvi V, Dhori X, Bordin A, Floris E, Cozzolino C, Frati G, Pagano F, Chimenti I, De Falco E. The emerging role of artificial intelligence applied to exosome analysis: from cancer biology to other biomedical fields. Life Sci. 2025 Aug 15;375:123752. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2025.123752. (IF:5.1)

5. De Michele M, Amisano P, Schiavo OG, Cammisotto V, Carnevale R, Forte M, Picchio V, Ciacciarelli A, Berto I, Angeloni U, Pugliese S, Toni D, Lorenzano S. Secondary Brain Injury After Parenchymal Cerebral Hemorrhage in Humans: The Role of NOX2-Mediated Oxidative Stress and Endothelin-1. Int J Mol Sci 2024 Dec 7;25(23):13180. (IF:4.9)

6. Loffredo L, Soresina A, Cinicola BL, Capponi M, Salvatori F, Bartimoccia S, Picchio V, Forte M, Caputi C, Poscia R, Leuzzi V, Spalice S, Pignatelli P, Badolato R, Duse M, Violi F, Carnevale R, Zicari AM; AT study group. Impaired arterial dilation and increased NOX2 generated oxidative stress in subjects with ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase. Redox Biol. 2024 Nov:77:103347. (IF:10.7)

7. Carnevale R, Nocella C, Marocco R, Zuccalà P, Carraro A, Picchio V, Oliva A, Cangemi R, Miele MC, De Angelis M, Cancelli F, Casciaro GE, Cristiano L, Pignatelli P, Frati G, Venditti M, Pugliese F, Mastroianni CM, Violi F, Ridola L, Del Borgo C, Palmerio S, Valenzi E, Carnevale R, Alvaro D, Lichtner M, Cardinale V. Association Between NOX2-Mediated Oxidative Stress, Low-Grade Endotoxemia, Hypoalbuminemia, and Clotting Activation in COVID-19. Antioxidants (Basel) 2024 Oct 17;13(10):1260. (IF:6)

8. Picchio V, Pagano F, Carnevale R, D'Amico A, Cozzolino C, Floris E, Bordin A, Schirone L, Vecchio D, Saade W, Miraldi F, De Falco E, Sciarretta S, Peruzzi M, Biondi-Zoccai G, Frati G, Chimenti I. Exposure to serum from exclusive heated tobacco product smokers induces mTOR activation and fibrotic features in human cardiac stromal cells. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 2024 Oct;1870(7):167350. (IF:4.2)

9. Picchio V, Gaetani R, Chimenti I. Recent Advances in 3D Cultures. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Apr 10;25(8):4189. (IF:4.9)

10. PicchioV, FerreroG, CozzolinoC, PardiniB, FlorisE, TaralloS, DhoriX, NocellaC, LoffredoL, Biondi-Zoccai G, Carnevale R, Frati G, Chimenti I, Pagano F. Effect of traditional or heat-not-burn cigarette smoking on circulating miRNAs in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Invest. 2024 Apr;54(4):e14140. (IF:4.4)

11. Picchio V, Gaetani R, Pagano F, Derevyanchuk Y, Pagliarosi O, Floris E, Cozzolino C,Bernava G, Bordin A, Rocha F, Ana Rita Simões Pereira AR, Augusto Ministro A, Pinto AT, De Falco E, Serino G, Massai D, Tamarat R, Pesce M, Santos SCR, Messina E, Chimenti I. Early Impairment of Paracrine and Phenotypic Features in Resident Cardiac Mesenchymal Stromal Cells after Thoracic Radiotherapy. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Mar 1;25(5):2873. (IF:4.9)

12. Cangemi R, Carnevale R, Nocella C, Calvieri C, Bartimoccia S, Frati G, Pignatelli P, Picchio V, Violi F. Low-grade endotoxemia is associated with cardiovascular events in community-acquired pneumonia. Journal Of Infection. 2024 Feb;88(2):89-94. (IF:14.3)

13. Nocella C, Cavarretta E, Fossati C, Pigozzi F , Quaranta F , Peruzzi M, De Grandis F , Costa Vincenzo, Sharp C, Manara M, Nigro N, Cammisotto, V, Castellani V, Picchio V, Sciarretta S, Frati, Bartimoccia S, D’Amico, Carnevale R. Dark Chocolate Intake Positively Modulates Gut Permeability in Elite Football Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Study. Nutrients. 2023 Sep 28;15(19):4203. (IF:4.8)

14. Floris E,Cozzolino C,Marconi S,Tonicello F,Picchio V,Pagano F,Chimenti I.A Review of Therapeutic Strategies against Cardiac Fibrosis: From Classical Pharmacology to Novel Molecular, Epigenetic, and Biotechnological Approaches. Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2023, 24(8),226. (IF:1.9)

15. Cozzolino C, Picchio V, Floris E, Pagano F, Saade W, Peruzzi M, Frati G, Chimenti I.Modified Risk Tobacco Products and Cardiovascular Repair: Still Very smoky. Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy. 2023, 18(4),440-444(5). (IF:2.1)

16. De Falco E, Bordin A, Picchio V, Cozzolino C, Floris E, Rosa P, Calogero A. Remote Adipose Tissue-Derived Stromal Cells of Patients with Lung Adenocarcinoma Generate a Similar Malignant Microenvironment of the Lung Stromal Counterpart. Journal of Oncology. 2023 (9):1-15. (IF:4.31)

17. PicchioV,FlorisE,DerevyanchukY,CozzolinoC,MessinaE,PaganoF,ChimentiI,GaetaniR. Multicellular 3D models for the study of cardiac fibrosis. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(19), 11642. (IF:5.6)

18. BordinA, Chirivì M, Pagano F, Milan M, Iuliano M, Scaccia E, Fortunato O, Mangino G, Dhori X, De Marinis E, D'Amico A, Miglietta S, Picchio V, Rizzi R, Romeo G, Pulcinelli F, Chimenti I, Frati G, De Falco E. Human platelet lysate-derived extracellular vesicles enhance angiogenesis through miR-126. Cell Proliferation. 2022, 55(11), e13312. (IF:8.5)

19. Schirone L, Loffredo L, Carnevale R, Battaglia S, Marti R, Pizzolo S, Bartimoccia S, Nocella C, Cammisotto V, Saade W, Tanzilli A, Sciarretta S, Chimenti I, De Falco E, Cavarretta E, Picchio V, Peruzzi M, Marullo A, Miraldi F, Violi F, Morelli A, Giuseppe Biondi-Zoccai G, Frati G. Sex-related differences in oxidative, platelet, and vascular function in chronic users of heat-not-burn vs. traditional combustion cigarettes. Antioxidant 2022, 11(7), 1237. (IF:7.0).

20. Pagano F, Picchio V*(Co-FirstAuthor), Bordin A, Cavarretta E, Nocella C, Cozzolino C, Floris E, Angelini F, Sordano A, Peruzzi M, Miraldi F, Biondi-Zoccai G, De Falco E, Carnevale R, Sciarretta S, Frati G, Chimenti I. Progressive stages of dysmetabolism are associated to altered biological functions of human cardiac stromal cells mediated by oxidative state and autophagy. The Journal of Pathology. 2022, 258 (2). (IF=9.88)

21. Chimenti I*, Picchio V*(Co-FirstAuthor), Pagano F, Schirone L, Schiavon S, D’ambrosio L, Valenti V, Forte M, Di Nonno F, Rubattu S, Peruzzi M, Versaci F, Calogero A, De Falco E, Frati G, Sciarretta S. The impact of Autophagy modulation on phenotype and survival of cardiac stromal cells subjected to metabolic stress. Cell Death Discov. 2022 Apr 1;8(1):149. (IF=6.55)

22. Picchio V, Pagano F, Chimenti I.Cardiacstromalcellsonstage: from dull to specialised actors. Biocell 46(8), 1875–1877. (IF=2.8)

23. Picchio V, Bordin A, Floris E, Cozzolino C, Dhori X, Peruzzi M, Frati G, DeFalco E, Pagano F, Chimenti I (2021). The dynamic facets of the cardiac stroma: from classical markers to omics with translational perspectives. Am J Transl Res. 2022 Feb 15;14(2):1172-1187. (IF=4.06)

24. Frati G, Forte M, Di Nonno F, Bordin A, Chimenti I, Picchio V, Cavarretta E, Stanzione R, Bianchi F, Carnevale R, Nocella C, Schiavon S, Vecchio D, Marchitti S, De Falco E, Rubattu S, Paneni F, Biondi-Zoccai G, Versaci F, Volpe M, Pagano F, Sciarretta S. Inhibition of miR-155 Attenuates Detrimental Vascular Effects of Tobacco Cigarette Smoking. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 Dec 15;9(24):e017000. (IF=5.5)

25. Belviso I, Angelini F, DiMeglio F, Picchio V, Sacco AM, Nocella C, Romano V, Nurzynska D, Frati G, Maiello C, Messina E, Montagnani S, Pagano F, Castaldo C, Chimenti I. The Microenvironment of Decellularized Extracellular Matrix from Heart Failure Myocardium Alters the Balance between Angiogenic and Fibrotic Signals from Stromal Primitive Cells. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Oct 24;21(21):7903. (IF=5.92)

26. Pagliarosi O, Picchio V, Chimenti I, Messina E, Gaetani R. Building an Artificial Cardiac Microenvironment: A Focus on the Extracellular Matrix. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Sep 4;8:559032. (IF=6.68)

27. Pagano F, Calicchio A, Picchio V, Ballarino M.The Noncoding Side of Cardiac Differentiation and Regeneration. Curr Stem Cell Res Ther. 2020;15(8):723-738. (IF=3.83)

28. Pagano F, Picchio V, Chimenti I,Sordano A, DeFalco E, Peruzzi M, Miraldi F, Cavarretta E, Zoccai GB, Sciarretta S, Frati G, Marullo AGM. On the Road to Regeneration: "Tools" and "Routes" Towards Efficient Cardiac Cell Therapy for Ischemic Cardiomyopathy. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2019 Oct 31;21(11):133. (IF=2.93)

29. Pagano F, Picchio V, Angelini F, Iaccarino A, Peruzzi M, Cavarretta E, Biondi-Zoccai G, Sciarretta S, De Falco E, Chimenti I, Frati G. The Biological Mechanisms of Action of Cardiac Progenitor Cell Therapy. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2018 Aug 13;20(10):84. (IF=2.93)

30. PicchioV,DiRaimoT,AngeliniF.CPCsandECM: A Good Mix for Cardiac Regeneration. Med One 3(6) (ISSN: 2397-9119).

31. Angelini F, Pagano F, Bordin A, Picchio V, DeFalco E, Chimenti I. Getting Old through Blood: Circulating Molecules in Aging and Senescence of Cardiovascular Regenerative Cells. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2017 Oct 6; 4:62. (IF=6.05)

32. Chimenti I, Pagano F, Angelini F, Siciliano C, Mangino G, Picchio V, De Falco E, Peruzzi M, Carnevale R, Ibrahim M, Biondi-Zoccai G, Messina E, Frati G. Human Lung Spheroids as In Vitro Niches of Lung Progenitor Cells with Distinctive Paracrine and Plasticity Properties. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2017 Mar;6(3):767-777. (IF=6.94)

33. Pagano F, Angelini F, Castaldo C, Picchio V, Messina E, Sciarretta S, Maiello C, Biondi-Zoccai G, Frati G, Meglio FD, Nurzynska D, Chimenti I. Normal versus Pathological Cardiac Fibroblast-Derived Extracellular Matrix Differentially Modulates Cardiosphere-Derived Cell Paracrine Properties and Commitment. Stem Cells Int. 2017; 2017:7396462. (IF=5.44)

Book Chapter:
Picchio V, Cammisotto V, Pagano F, Carnevale F, Chimenti I. Innovative In Vitro Models for the Study of Lung Diseases. IntechOpen, Cell Interaction- Molecular and Immunological Basis for Disease Management. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.95300.

Summary and bibliometrics of scientific achievements:
Scopus database (as of Nov 2025)
Scopus ID: 57193932107
Orcid ID: 0000-0003-1591-5118
Year of 1st pub: 2017
Printed papers: 33
Printed Book Chapter: 1
First/last names: 13
Total citations: 293
H-index: 11

Grants and Funding:
2025-Ongoing
Principal Investigator “A novel approach against post-ischemic cardiac fibrosis based on photothermal therapy (REPAIR)”. Fondo Italiano per la Scienza (FIS) “Starting Grant”. Project code: FIS2023-00112. University of Rome, La Sapienza, Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies.

2020-2021
Principal investigator, Sapienza University, call 2020 for Starting Grants “Avvio alla Ricerca”. Project title: “Autophagy modulation as a novel strategy to preserve a beneficial phenotype in primitive cardiac stromal cells”. protocol: AR120172B8B543B3.

Honors & Awards:
2023 BCVS International Travel Grant, American Heart Congress (AHA), Philadelphia, USA

Peer reviewing activity:
Autophagy (IF=14.3), Antioxidants & Redox Signaling (IF=6.1), Cells (IF=6.6), Current Issues in Molecular Biology (IF=3), Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (IF=6.54),International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IF=6.2)

Editorial activity:
Guest Editor, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS). Special Issue “Recent advance in 3D cultures. (IF=6.2)

Language skills:
Mother tongue: Italian
Other: Proficient English