Dr. Antonio Giordano (MD, PhD) is an Italian-American pathologist , oncologist and geneticist. Dr. Giordano is the president, founder and chairman of the board of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO), a nonprofit organization committed to funding excellence in basic genetic research to cure and diagnose cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, and to foster the training of young doctors in a spirit of professionalism and humanism.
Dr. Giordano is also the founder and director of the SHRO supported Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, as well as the Center for Biotechnology, which are both located in Temple University's College of Science and Technology. Dr. Giordano is also a 'Chiara fama' professor of pathology in the Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Neuroscience at the University of Siena, Italy where the Temple Summer in Siena Biomedical Research program is based.
Dr Giordano earned his medical degree at the University of Naples in 1986, and his doctorate at the University of Trieste in 1990. He has published over 600 papers on gene therapy, cell cycle, genetics of cancer, and epidemiology. His early research includes seminal work done in 1989, demonstrating the importance of cell cycle proteins in the functioning of DNA tumor viruses. The transforming gene products of these viruses, such as the E1A oncoproteins of adenovirus 5, led to the identification of cellular factor p60, known as cyclin A. This research was the first demonstration of a physical link between cellular transformation and the cell cycle, thereby paving the way for the melding of these two areas of research. It also helped to open a very exciting avenue of research involving investigators with expertise in different aspects of growth control and cancer. Giordano’s lab also discovered the tumor suppressor gene RB2/p130 and the cell cycle kinases CDK9 and CDK10, two other key players in cell cycle regulation and cell differentiation
Dr. Giordano is the recipient of the Irving J. Selikoff Award for Cancer Research, the Rotary International Award, and Lions Club Napoli-Europa. He has also received the title of Knight of the Republic and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. At the 25th anniversary of the National Organization of Italian American Women, he was awarded the Cross of Merit Melitense, an honor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.