Graduated cum laude in Medicine (University of Catania, 1962), he has been a post-doc with the Nobel laureate George E. Palade at the Rockefeller University of New York (1968-70).

Academic career.
Assistant (1965), Associate (1971) and Full (1981-) Professor of General Pharmacology, first at the Milan University, then (1999- ) at the Vita-Salute S. Raffaele University of Milan where he has been Dean of Research. From November 2010 Emeritus Professor in the same University. Former associates are now independent scientists and Professors of Pharmacology, Physiology and Cell Biology at Universities in Italy, USA, France, Spain and Japan.

Scientific Societies, Editorial career, Academies and Awards.
President of the Italian Society of Neuroscience (1999-2001) and of the Federation of Italian Life Science Societies (2003-2007).
Member of the Editorial Board of scientific journals including: J. Cell Biol. (1988- ), TiPS (1980-); EMBO J. (2007- ).
Member of EMBO (1984), of Academia Europaea (1992) and of Academia Nazionale dei Lincei (2001). Winner of the Golgi Award (Washington, 1998); of the Purkinje Award of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Prague, 1992); of the Feltrinelli Award, Accademia dei Lincei, Rome (1994); of the science merit gold medal of the President of the Italian Republic (1999).

Research Positions, National and International Committees.
Head of a research Unit at the CNR Center of Cellular Pharmacology, University of Milan (1970-1987). Thereafter, Head of Research Unit (from 2000, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Unit) at the San Raffaele Institute. First director of DIBIT, the Research Department of the San Raffaele Institute (1990-1998), then (1999-2004) of the Neuroscience Department.
Member of Evaluation Committees of the Italian Ministry of Research (PRIN and Spin-Off Programs, 1998-2004; Chair in 1999); Head of the Biology and Medicine Committees of Bank Foundation Research Programs (MPS, CARIPARO). Head of the Advisory Committee at the regional Agency Sardegna Research. Member of Evaluation Committees and grant Funding Committees of Medical Schools, University Research Departments and Scientific Institutes, and of Granting Institutions in France, UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland. Member of Evaluation Committees of the European Union.

Starting from the Cell Biology background of membrane fusion and traffic received in the laboratory of George E. Palade his studies have concentrated primarily on distinct areas: first the secretory pathway and the mechanisms and the cellular interactions in the exocrine pancreas, liver and pituitary cells (1970-1980); then the cell biology of Ca2+ signaling at synapses and neurosecretory cells (mostly in collaboration with Tullio Pozzan, 1981-1994); and finally the various forms of exocytosis and endocytosis and the cellular and molecular and gene expression mechanisms governing the expression of neurosecretion (1995-now). Many of these studies have been developed towards biomedical and translational tasks including acute pancreatitis (collaboration with Mike Steer); cell growth and transformation; genetic diseases (PLOSL dementia, CRASH); neurodegeneration (aging, multiple sclerosis, HIV; excitotoxicity; Alzheimer, Parkinson).
The core of the studies has been always in Milan. However excellent external collaborations have been established with Tullio Pozzan (Padova), Mike Steer and Tom Kirchhausen (Harvard), Sol Snyder (Johns Hopkins), the Nobel laureate Roger Tsien (San Diego), Wieland Huttner (Dresden) and a few others.
Author of over 250 articles in prestigious Journals (Total IF> 1500), with total citations >14,500 (average citation/paper: 52,7; H Index: 68).
Invited speaker to more than 70 International Congresses and Symposia has given more than 120 seminars in Europe, USA, Mexico and Japan.

Chieregatti E. and Meldolesi J. Regulated exocytosis: new organelles for non-secretory purposes.Nature Rev. Mol. Cell. Biol.,6:181-18 (2005)

Sala C., Roussignol G., Meldolesi J. and Fagni L.Key role of the postsynaptic density scaffold proteins Shank and Homer in the functional architecture of Ca2+ homeostasis at dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons.J. Neurosci.,25:4587-4592 (2005)

Volterra A. and Meldolesi J.Astrocytes, from brain glue to communication elements: the revolution. Nature Rev. Neurosci.,6:626-640(2005)

Lorusso A., Covino C., Priori G., Bachi A., Meldolesi J. and Chieregatti E. Annexin2 coating the surface of enlargeosomes is needed for their regulated exocytosis.EMBO J.,25:5443-5456(2006)

Falcone S., Cocucci E., Podini P., Kirchhausen T., Clementi E. and Meldolesi J.
Macropinocytosis: regulated coordination of endocytic and exocytic membranetraffic events. J. Cell Sci.,119:4758-4769(2006)

Cocucci E., Racchetti G., Podini P. and Meldolesi J.Enlargeosome traffic: exocytosis triggered by various signals is followed by endocytosis, membrane shedding or both. Traffic, 8:742-757(2007)

D’Alessandro R., Klajn A., Stucchi L., Podini P., Malosio M.L. and Meldolesi J.
Expression of the neurosecretory process in PC12 cells is governed by REST.
J. Neurochem.,105:1369-1383(2008)

Cocucci E., Racchetti G., Rupnik M. and Meldolesi J. The regulated exocytosis of enlargeosomes is mediated by a SNARE machinery that includes VAMP4. J. Cell Sci., 121: 2983-2991(2008)

Cocucci E., Racchetti G. and Meldolesi J.Shedding microvesicles: artefacts no more.
Trends Cell Biol.,19:43-51(2009)

Klajn A., Ferrai C., Stucchi L., Prada I., Podini P., Baba T., Rocchi M., Meldolesi J. and D’Alessandro R. The REST repression of the neurosecretory phenotype is negatively modulated by BHC80, a protein of the BRAF/HDAC complex.
J. Neurosci.,29:6296-6307(2009).

Sousa V., Bellani S., Gianandrea M., Yousuf M., Valtorta F., Meldolesi J., and Chieregatti E. α-Synuclein and its A30P mutant affect the actin cytoskeleton structure and dynamics.Mol. Biol. Cell,20:3725-3739(2009).

Racchetti G., Lorusso A., Schulte C., Gavello D., Carabelli V., D’Alessandro R. and Meldolesi J. Rapid neurite outgrowth in neurosecretory cells and neurons is sustained by the exocytosis of a cytoplasmic organelle, the enlargesosome. J. Cell Sci. 123:165-170(2010).

Schulte, C., Racchetti, G., D’Alessandro, R., and Meldolesi, J.. A new form of neurite outgrowth is sustained by the exocytosis of enlargeosomes expressed under the control of REST. Traffic, 11:1304-1314(2010).

Meldolesi J. Neurite outgrowth: a process, first discovered by Santiago Ramon y Cajal, sustained by the exocytosis of two types of vesicles. Brain Research Reviews, 66:246-255(2011).

Prada I., Marchaland J., Podini P., Magrassi L., D’Alessandro R., Bezzi P., Meldolesi J. REST/NRSF governs the exèpression of dense-core vesicle gliosecretion in astrocytes. J. Cell Biology, 193:537-549(2011).

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