BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Diaspro Alberto, Prof.
Università degli Studi di Genova and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)
Full Professor and Research Director
Department of Physics, University of Genoa, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova.
Nanoscopy, Center for Human Technologies, IIT, Via E. Melen 83 - Edificio B
16152 Genoa Italy
Daytime telephone number: +39 3335895780
Email address : diaspro@fisica.unige.it
ORCID Identifier: 0000-0002-4916-5928
Date of birth 07/04/1959 | Nationality Italian
Main Current Positions and Appointments
Full Professor of Applied Physics at the Department of Physics, University of Genoa; Research Director of the “Nanoscopy” line at the Italian Institute of Technology; Scientific Director of the Italian Nikon Imaging Center; Full Member of the Science Section of the Ligurian Academy of Sciences and Letters and Corresponding Non-Resident Member of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti; Co-founder of the start-up Genoa Instruments; President of the Joint Research Unit of “Euro-BioImaging ERIC – Advanced Light Microscopy Italian Node”; Evaluator for ERC Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants; former member of the ERC Panel PE3. Co-Director of the “Antonio Borsellino” School of Biophysics of the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture. Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
Curriculum Vitae – Overview
Alberto Diaspro, Full Professor of Applied Physics at the University of Genoa, was born in Genoa on 7 April 1959 and graduated in Electronic Engineering in 1983. He became the youngest contract professor at the University in 1986. He later served as Research Director at IFOM (FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology). From 2009 to 2014 he directed the Department of Nanophysics at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), served as Deputy Director of IIT from 2012 to 2014, and since 2014 has been Director of the Nikon Imaging Center at IIT.
He has authored more than 500 scientific publications (H-index 71, Google Scholar), 8 international books, one popular science book (*), and holds 15 patents. He has delivered over 250 invited lectures worldwide. He has served as President of OWLS (Optics Within Life Sciences), of the European Biophysical Societies’ Association (EBSA), and of the Italian Society for Pure and Applied Biophysics (SIBPA).
He received the Emily M. Gray Award in 2014, an international lifetime achievement award in biophysics. He is a Fellow of SPIE (the International Society for Optics and Photonics) and EOS (European Optical Society), and a Senior Member of IEEE and OSA (Optical Society of America). He has also received the Award for Scientific Communication from the Italian Physical Society (SIF). He is listed among the Top 100 Italian Scientists in Physics.
His research activity has mainly focused on nanobiophysics, with original contributions to optical and nanoscopic microscopy. His work spans the design, development and application of optical and biophysical instrumentation in molecular oncology (chromatin organisation, endocytosis and adhesion mechanisms), neuroscience (brain mapping and neuronal signalling), and smart materials (intelligent drug delivery systems and nanocomposites). In 1987, he designed and built a CIDS (Circular Intensity Differential Scattering) system for cancer cell analysis; in 1998 he developed the first Italian multiphoton microscope, extended to single-molecule studies, supported by competitive funding from INFM. In 2000, he designed and developed the Nanobiorobot system within the EU Nanocapsules project, and in 2009 he realised the first Italian optical nanoscope at IIT. In 2014 he founded the Nikon Imaging Center at IIT, the first in Italy and one of only four in Europe and nine worldwide. In 2019 he co-founded the start-up Genoa Instruments and, more recently, launched The Artificial Microscope (EOS Dijon, 2023). He is currently developing an intelligent quantum optical microscope.
In the area of public engagement and the so-called “third mission”, he promoted the initiative Caffè Scientifici – IIT racconta, the exhibitions Beyond Science – Science in a Snapshot and Pop Microscopy. He served as President of the Scientific Committee of the Genoa Science Festival (2016–2024), is currently a member of the Scientific Committee of the Festa di Scienza e Filosofia in Foligno, and chairs the Scienza Condivisa series of the Fondazione per la Cultura at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. He authored a popular science book published by Hoepli, Quello che gli occhi non vedono, translated by Springer as Expedition into the Nanoworld.
In 2022 he received the international Gregorio Weber Award for excellence in fluorescence studies. In 2024 he was awarded the honour of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and received the Enrico Fermi Prize for Physics from the Italian Physical Society “for his original contributions to the development and application of optical microscopy and its crucial impact on cellular and molecular biophysics.” In the same year he received the Sant’Eligio Special Prize from Federpreziosi and the “Beppe Pericu” Award from the Società di Letture e Conversazioni Scientifiche of Genoa for his scientific and outreach activities. In 2025, he was awarded the Montale Prize – In Limine section – for his frontier research in advanced optical microscopy, his dedication to mentoring young researchers, and his commitment to bridging scientific and humanistic culture.
Full publication list:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=it&user=FtRb-LIAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
