Natural products are an important source for the health products industry. The international turnover demonstrates how, beyond the emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this market continues to grow. A constantly growing sector towards which, however, criticisms are made of the general lack of clinical trials for many products, the frequent false claims of efficacy, the concerns about quality and the problems raised by the frequent phenomenon of self-medication even in the case of serious illnesses.
Secretary
Via Giovanni Pascoli, 3
20129 Milano - Italy
T +39 0229520311
F +39 02700590939
segreteria@sifweb.org
The IMGNPP group was born as an international scientific group that aims to provide consultancy, training and research projects to companies (pharmaceutical and agro-food companies) and governments with the aim of solving or mitigating the problems mentioned above. The competence and experience of pharmacologists, beyond the historical and well-established role of natural substances in drug discovery, may also be relevant in the field of nutraceuticals (sector of nutrients contained in foods that have beneficial effects on health) and of natural health products.
The IMGNPP group was born in Italy thanks to the initiative of the President of the Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF) Prof. Giorgio Racagni. The IMGNPP group has as its primary objective the promotion and growth of scientific knowledge on products of natural origin used in the health field. Although born from an Italian idea, the group already at the time of its establishment manifested an international vocation, evidenced by the participation of researchers from Southern Europe and the entire Mediterranean area operating in the field of pharmacology of natural products.
We have received an enthusiastically response to the request to join the group from researchers of the following Mediterranean countries (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Turkey).
SIF President
President of the Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF). More than two years at the National Institute of Mental Health, Washington D.C. Former Secretary General and President of CINP (Collegium International Neuropsichopharmacologicum). International research awards including Anna Monika Prize (German Neuroscience Academy) and Korsakoff (Russian Academy of Medical Sciences), for neurobiological and molecular studies in the mechanism of action of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs; Research Grants (European Union, Cariplo Foundation, PRIN, national and international foundations); 476 papers in peer reviewed international journals; coordination of 54 books publication on neuropsychopharmacological topics.
Secretary of the SIF Board of Directors
Graduated in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies in 1985 (110/110 cum laude) and in Pharmacy in 1995 (110/110 cum laude). She has been awarded numerous national and international awards; she received his PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology in 1993. Since 2012 he is full professor in Pharmacology and Pharmacognosy. From 2007 to 2010 she was President of the Degree Course in Scientific Information on Drugs and from 2010 to 2018 President of the Degree Course in Pharmacy (University of Florence). She was the Rector's Delegate at the Toscana Life Sciences Foundation. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Society of Pharmacology, Coordinator of the Doctorate in the Area of Drugs and Innovative Treatments, President of the Ce.Sa.L. and Vice-Director of the Neurofarba Department of the University of Florence as well as Editor of international journals. Her bibliometric indexes are as follows: papers 444, H index 46, citations 9248.
IMGNPP Coordinator
Degree in medicine and surgery. Full Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Department of Biomedical, Dental and Morphological and Functional Imaging Sciences of the University of Messina. Medical specializations achieved in Pharmacology and Child Neuropsychiatry. He was Director of the School of Specialization in Medical Toxicology from 2004 to 2014. He is Director of the School of Specialization in Pharmacology and Clinical Toxicology in the non-medical area for the three-year period 2021-2024. He was an elected member of the "Herbal Medicinal Products" Commission of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) from 2008 to 2017. He has published 171 peer reviewed scientific articles in international scientific journals and currently has the following bibliometric indexes: citations: 4966; H-index 43. He is reviewer and member of the Editorial Board of several international scientific journals. His pharmacological research topics mainly concern the pharmacology of natural health products and the identification of new therapeutic approaches for the pharmacological therapy of pain. He is in charge of the "Evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain syndromes with conventional therapies and / or cannabis derivatives" at the "G. Martino ”of Messina.
Member
Professor of pharmacognosy at the University of Naples Federico II (Department of Pharmacy). During his scientific career, Angelo spent a period of time undertaking research in France (Inserm U200), Australia (Flinders University) and UK (University of Exeter). He holds relevant Editorial positions, including Editor-in-Chief (Phytotherapy Research), Senior Editor (Br J Pharmacol) and specialty Chief-Editor (Frontiers in Pharmacology). His research interests range from experimental pharmacology (e.g. phytocannabinoids and TRP channel plant-derived ligands) and herbs clinical pharmacology, including herb-drug interactions. In 2014 Angelo Izzo was identified by Thomson Reuters as “ISI Highly Cited Researcher” in Pharmacology. In 2017 was awarded, for scientific merits, with the honour of “commendatore”, by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella.
Member
Full Professor in Pharmacognosy (2019-today) at Dept. of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano. He obtained the degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, Diploma of Specialty in Experimental Pharmacology, and Ph.D. in Pharmaco-toxicological, Pharmacognostical Sciences, and Pharmacological Biotechnologies. He was Assistant Professor (2010-2014), and Associate Professor (2015-2019). Mario Dell’Agli is currently the Head of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy in Milan (2012-today). The research activity is devoted to the study of the biological and pharmacological activities of natural products derived from medicinal and edible plants. Research activity is documented by more than 85 peer reviewed papers (h-index: 27, Scopus). He is also reviewer for more than 30 journals, and Editorial Board member/Editor in 5 international journals. He is co-author of 250 abstracts and scientific meetings and invited speaker in more than 30 National and International meetings. He is Principal Investigator in more than 25 funded Grants by private companies or public institutions.
Member
Associate Professor of human nutrition at the University of Padua, Italy and Adjunct Investigator at the Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA)-Alimentación. His research ranges from in vitro studies of bioactivity (test tubes, cell cultures) to in vivo tests, performed on laboratory animals and/or humans. Dr. Visioli has a publication record of more than 300 papers and book chapters, which have been cited over 13,000 times. He gave invited lectures in over 100 meetings. Currently, Dr. Visioli is the Editor-in-Chief of PharmaNutrition, Associate Editor of Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, in addition to being a member of the Editorial Board of several other journals. Presently, Dr. Visioli is Leader of the “Fats and Human Health” division of Eurofed Lipid and was member of the EFSA GMO Panel.
Member
He is researcher (RTD-B) in pharmacology, Dept. Neurofarba - University of Florence. In 2016, He obtained abilitation to associate professor in pharmacology; in 2018 to full professor in pharmacology. His
research activity is focused on the physiopathological mechanisms of pain and the relative
pharmacological modulation. A particular attention is devoted to chemotherapy-induced neuropathic
pain, visceral pain, glial cell signaling and neurorestoration. Natural resources as single compounds,
plant extracts and marine-derived products are deeply investigate. The research activity is
documented by about 200 full papers published on international peer reviewed journals (H index: 33).
Member
Graduate in Biological Sciences. She obtained a PhD in Experimental Medicine at the University of Messina. Research Grant at the Department of Biomedical, Dental and Morphological and Functional Imaging Sciences, University of Messina. Since 2009 he is a member of the Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF) and since 2012 he is a member of the Italian Society of Toxicology (SITOX). Since December 2014 he has been a member of the Editorial Board of the Scientific Journal "Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine". During her scientific training, she has dealt with the following research topics: Pharmacology and Toxicology; Pharmacology and Toxicology of Medicinal Herbs and Food Supplements; Study of risk biomarkers in smokers; Pathophysiological mechanisms of cerebral ischemia; Biochemical studies on marine organisms. She is author of 59 research articles reported on the main databases (Scopus; PubMed). Bibliometric indicators: citations = 686; h-index = 15.
Member
She is working at the Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II. During her scientific career, Ester spent time undertaking research in US (University of Chicago, Biological Sciences Division) and UK (University of Cambridge, Department of Medicine). Her research interests lie in the identification of new molecular targets for the treatment of diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, including colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases. A special emphasis has been given to plant-derived compounds and their molecular targets. Ester Pagano received the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science 2019 Award. She is Author of 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Member
Degree in Molecular Biology of the Cell (2010) and PhD in Pharmacological Sciences (2014) at the Università degli Studi di Milano (UNIMI). Currently, Dott. Sangiovanni is a Tenured Research Associate (RTD-B) at Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences (DiSFeB-UNIMI), where he investigates the anti-inflammatory activity of natural products at gastrointestinal and cutaneous level. In his career he has participated in six funded research projects and obtained funding as Principal Investigator for the study of the anti-inflammatory activities of Cannabis sativa L. and Hamamelis virginiana L. at topical level. Dr. Sangiovanni has more than 60 contributions to Congresses, 47 international scientific publications, and is the author of 3 book chapters. Since 2011 he has been a member of the Interuniversity Center for Research on Malaria (CIRM) and since 2012 of the Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF). He runs the DiSFeB scientific blog: www.ricercamix.org.