Mario Passalacqua graduated at the University of Genova in Biology and obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1996. He is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Genova School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences. His main areas of research include: NAD+ biosynthetic enzymes and their role in cancer, involvement of protein kinase C in cell proliferation and differentiation, characterization of the Ca2+-dependent proteolytic system calpain-calpastatin in mammalian tissues and cell lines.