Filippo Drago (pharmacologist)

Last updated
Professor Filippo Drago
FILIPPO DRAGO.jpg
Born
Filippo Drago

(1954-12-05) 5 December 1954 (age 70)
Italy
Alma mater University of Catania [1]
Utrecht University [1]
Scientific career
Institutions University of Szeged [1]
Weizmann Institute of Science [1]
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [1]
University of Catania
Thesis Prolactin and Behavior [1]  (1982)
Doctoral advisor David de Wied [2]

Filippo Drago (born 5 December 1954 in Enna, Italy) is an Italian pharmacologist, neurologist and psychiatrist. [2]

Contents

He is a professor of pharmacology at the University of Catania, Italy. [1]

Filippo Drago has several patents in the field of pharmacology and is author of more than 500 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. [3] [4]

Additionally, Filippo Drago is a certified Italian freelance journalist. [5]

Career

Filippo Drago obtained his medical degree in 1978 at the University of Catania, Italy, and obtained a PhD in pharmacology in 1982 at the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, working with David de Wied. [2]

Afterwards, he worked at the University of Szeged in Hungary, the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and the Department of Psychiatry of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. [1]

From 2004 to 2010, he was a member of the Scientific Board of the Italian public agency for drug evaluation, the "Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco" (AIFA). [2] [6] In 2012, he was also appointed as a member of the board for pricing and reimbursement of the same agency. [7]

At the University of Catania, he was, among other roles, the Director of the International PhD Program in Neuropharmacology (2002–2013) and he is the coordinator of the master's degree in drug regulatory affairs. [8] [1] He is also a professor of Pharmacology and, since 2014, the Director of the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences. [1]

From 2012 to 2014, Drago was President of the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies (EPHAR). [2] He is currently the President of the Italian branch of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), IT-ARVO, and the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AOPT), an organization that welcomes members from disciplines related to ocular pharmacology and its therapeutic applications. [9] [10]

In June 2019, as part of the "Università Bandita" investigation conducted by the Catania Public Prosecutor's Office, he – together with other eight professors and the Dean of the University of Catania – was investigated for having influenced the outcome of public competitions for the assignment of positions within the University of Catania. As a result, he was temporarily suspended from his role as Professor, pending the outcome of the judicial proceedings. [11]

He was fully readmitted as Professor in October 2019, when he was elected President of the CERD (Center for Research and Consultation on HTA and Drugs Regulatory Affairs) of the University of Catania. [12]

In 2020, Filippo Drago was appointed as chairman of the International Advisory Council within the Human Health Education and Research Foundation (HHERF). [13]

In March 2024, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested 7 years and 10 months of prison for Drago following the "Università Bandita" investigation. [14]

Awards

In 2014, Drago was awarded the Order for the International Merit of Blood by the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations. [15] In the same year, he was also awarded the "ARVO Silver Fellow", an honour conferred to ARVO members "for their individual accomplishments, leadership and contributions to the Association". [16] [17]

In 2014, Drago was among the recipients of the "Rodolfo Paoletti Medal", which was established to "honour distinguished pharmacologists who have achieved merits for the discipline of pharmacology in Europe". [18]

In 2021, Filippo Drago became an "ARVO Golden Fellow" for his commitment "to advance research worldwide into understanding the visual system and preventing, treating and curing its disorders”. [19] [20]

Personal life

Filippo Drago is married and has four children. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Filippo Drago" (in Italian). University of Catania. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "EPHAR Executive Committee". EPHAR. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Filippo Drago". Scopus. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. ↑ "Filippo Drago Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications". Justia Patents. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ordine dei giornalisti" (PDF). Ordine dei Giornalisti – Consiglio Nazionale. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 May 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "Composizione di strutture operanti in seno all'Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA)" (PDF). Bollettino SIFO (in Italian). 5 (2004settembre–ottobre): 276–277. 2014. doi:10.1704/83.898 . Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Aifa. Definiti i componenti regionali della Cts e del Cpr" (in Italian). Quotidianosanita.it. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Master in Discipline Regolatorie del Farmaco" (in Italian). University of Catania. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology- Italian Chapter Affiliate". ARVO.org. Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  10. ↑ "Dr. Filippo Drago". AOPT.org. Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  11. ↑ Natale, Bruno (28 June 2019). "Concorsi truccati all'Università, sospesi il rettore di Catania e 9 professori. Tra gli indagati anche l'ex procuratore D'Agata". la Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  12. ↑ "Elezione del Direttore del Centro di Ricerca e Consultazione su HTA e Discipline Regolatorie del Farmaco (CERD) — scorcio 20 19-2023" (PDF) (in Italian). Centro di Ricerca e Consultazione su HTA e Discipline Regolatorie del Farmaco (CERD). October 2019.
  13. ↑ "Council Members". HHERF. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Concorsi truccati all'UniCt: chieste 39 condanne". lasiciliaweb (in Italian). 25 March 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
  15. ↑ "Order for International Merit of Blood" (in Italian). International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  16. ↑ "2014 ARVO Fellows". ARVO.org (in Italian). The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  17. ↑ "ARVO Fellows". ARVO.org (in Italian). The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  18. ↑ "The Rodolfo Paoletti Medal". The Federation of European Pharmacological Societies. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  19. ↑ "ARVO 2021 Golden Fellows". The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "ARVO Fellows". The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
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