Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious diseases
Nicola Clementi
BIO
Nicola Clementi is Associate Professor at the School of Medicine, San Raffaele Vita-Salute University, where he has been involved in academic teaching and research since 2012. He coordinates and teaches multiple courses in microbiology and virology across undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs, including the International MD Program and various Master’s degrees in biotechnology and medicine. He also serves as Director of Studies for the UniSR PhD Program in Clinical Experimental Medicine and is part of the national doctoral network “One Health Approaches to Infectious Diseases and Life Sciences”.
At IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Prof. Clementi is a Microbiologist and Virologist and coordinates the Metagenomics and Drug-Resistance Sequencing Unit at the Laboratory of Microbiology and Virology directed by Dr. DM Cirillo. His work includes high-containment (BSL-3) virology coordination from 2019, with significant contributions to the isolation and whole genome and phenotypic characterization of almost all SARS-CoV-2 variants mainly circulating and monkeypox virus from clinical samples and he is recently working with WNV, and Dengue. He has implemented NGS-based diagnostic for viral genome sequencing and evaluation of drug resistances and implemented bacterial and fungal metagenomics for routine hospital diagnostics.
His research focuses on viral genomics, host-pathogen interactions, monoclonal antibody discovery, antimicrobial resistance and microbiome. He is principal investigator on national research projects and co-inventor on a patent for broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against Sarbecoviruses. Prof. Clementi is a member of several scientific societies, including the Italian Society for Virology (SIV-ISV), the European Virus Bioinformatics Center (EVBC), and the Vironet C Foundation.
G2P Microbe-Host Dynamics Lab (Geno-to-Pheno)
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Our Laboratory focuses on the molecular virology of human pathogens, with expertise in high-containment virus research and advanced genomic technologies. We perform whole-genome sequencing and functional characterization of clinical isolates from a broad range of viruses, including emerging and re-emerging threats such as SARS-CoV-2, MPOX, HIV, HCV, HSV-1/2, influenza, RSV, metapneumovirus, and more recently, West Nile, Dengue, and Zika. A key area of our research is the investigation of innate and humoral immune responses, particularly the identification and characterization of human monoclonal antibodies with neutralizing and ADCC activity. We also validate molecular tools to enhance NGS- and metagenomics-based platforms for pathogen detection, microbiota analysis. In addition, our lab studies antimicrobial resistance in multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and coordinates a FRRB-funded consortium to identify new therapeutic compounds. By coordinating BSL-3 virology activities and fostering interdisciplinary partnerships, we contribute to both basic science and translational research aimed at advancing diagnostics, therapeutics, and our understanding of host-pathogen interactions.
Severa, M., Diotti, R. A., Etna, M. P., Rizzo, F., Fiore, S., Ricci, D., Iannetta, M., Sinigaglia, A., Lodi, A., Mancini, N., Criscuolo, E., Clementi, M., Andreoni, M., Balducci, S., Barzon, L., Stefanelli, P., Clementi, N*. (Co-Last), & Coccia, E. M*. (2021). Differential plasmacytoid dendritic cell phenotype and type I Interferon response in asymptomatic and severe COVID-19 infection. PLoS Pathogens, 17(9). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009878
Broggi, A., Ghosh, S., Sposito, B., Spreafico, R., Balzarini, F., lo Cascio, A., Clementi, N., de Santis, M., Mancini, N., Granucci, F., & Zanoni, I. (2020). Type III interferons disrupt the lung epithelial barrier upon viral recognition. Science, 369(6504). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc3545
Caputo, V., Diotti, R. A., Boeri, E., Hasson, H., Sampaolo, M., Criscuolo, E., Bagaglio, S., Messina, E., Uberti-Foppa, C., Castelli, M., Burioni, R., Mancini, N., Clementi, M., & Clementi, N. (2020). Detection of low-level HCV variants in DAA treated patients: Comparison amongst three different NGS data analysis protocols. Virology Journal, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-020-01381-3
Clementi, N., Criscuolo, E., Cappelletti, F., Quaranta, P., Pistello, M., Diotti, R. A., Sautto, G. A., Tarr, A. W., Mailland, F., Concas, D., Burioni, R., Clementi, M., & Mancini, N. (2017). Entry inhibition of HSV-1 and -2 protects mice from viral lethal challenge. Antiviral Research, 143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.03.028
Clementi, N., Ferrarese, R., Criscuolo, E., Diotti, R. A., Castelli, M., Scagnolari, C., Burioni, R., Antonelli, G., Clementi, M., & Mancini, N. (2020). Interferon-β-1a inhibition of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 in vitro when administered after virus infection. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 222(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaa350
Sposito, B., Broggi, A., Pandolfi, L., Crotta, S., Clementi, N., Ferrarese, R., Sisti, S., Criscuolo, E., Spreafico, R., Long, J. M., Ambrosi, A., Liu, E., Frangipane, V., Saracino, L., Bozzini, S., Marongiu, L., Facchini, F. A., Bottazzi, A., Fossali, T., … Zanoni, I. (2021). The interferon landscape along the respiratory tract impacts the severity of COVID-19. Cell, 184(19). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.08.016
Clementi, N., Ghosh, S., de Santis, M., Castelli, M., Criscuolo, E., Zanoni, I., Clementi, M., & Mancini, N. (2021). Viral respiratory pathogens and lung injury. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 34(3). https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00103-20
Criscuolo, E., Castelli, M., Diotti, R. A., Amato, V., Burioni, R., Clementi, M., Ambrosi, A., Mancini, N., & Clementi, N. (2019). Cell-to-Cell Spread Blocking Activity Is Extremely Limited in the Sera of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1)- and HSV-2-Infected Subjects. Journal of Virology, 93(11). https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00070-19
Criscuolo, E., Diotti, R. A., Ferrarese, R., Alippi, C., Viscardi, G., Signorelli, C., Mancini, N., Clementi, M., & Clementi, N. (2021). Fast inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by UV-C and ozone exposure on different materials. In Emerging Microbes and Infections (Vol. 10, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2021.1872354
Mazzara, P. G., Criscuolo, E., Rasponi, M., Massimino, L., Muggeo, S., Palma, C., Castelli, M., Clementi, M., Burioni, R., Mancini, N., Broccoli, V., & Clementi, N. (2022). A Human Stem Cell-Derived Neurosensory–Epithelial Circuitry on a Chip to Model Herpes Simplex Virus Reactivation. Biomedicines, 10(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10092068
Awards
LURIA AWARD 2017, Italian Society for Virology SIV-ISV 2017
Auditor for Competitive Calls
Reviewer for the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF Starting Grant application - 2024
Grants
28/03/2023 - present Coordinator: Bando Unmet Medical Needs – IN SIGNO Project (ID 3423223). Antimicrobial resistance
29/05/2023 - present PRIN – Bando 2022 Responsabile Scientifico UO UniSR Prot. 2022EJL28B
25/10/2022 - 25/09/2023 PRIN 2017 Responsabile del'Unità di Ricerca (Responsabile Scientifico dell'UO UniSR)
Member of One Health Basic and Translational Actions Addressing Unmet Needs on Emerging Infectious Diseases (INF ACT) - ESEARCH NODE 1: Virus Emergenti e Ri-Emergenti – SPOKE LED BY: Università di Pavia (UNIPV).
Elena Criscuolo PhD, Research Associate - criscuolo.elena@hsr.it
Matteo Castelli PhD, Research Associate - castelli.matteo@hsr.it
Benedetta Giuliani, Predoctoral fellow - giuliani.benedetta@hsr.it
Sofia Sisti PhD, Junior Postdoc - sisti.sofia@hsr.it
Mattia Cavallaro, PhD student - cavallaro.mattia@hsr.it
Martina Benefico, Predoctoral fellow - benefico.martina@hsr.it
Martina Corbari, Predoctoral fellow - corbari.martina@hsr.it
Benedetta Mastromarino, Undergraduate student - b.mastromarino@studenti.unisr.it
Francesca Mascotto, Undergraduate student - f.mascotto@studenti.unisr.it
Joaquin Tomas Penaloza, Undergraduate student