

Mauro D'Amato is a tenured Ikerbasque Research Professor who joined CIC bioGUNE in 2021 after an important international trajectory.
He obtained a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from the University of Naples Federico II – Italy (1997), summa cum laude with a thesis focused on the genetic predisposition to Ankylosing Spondylitis. His postdoctoral studies were at the University of Rome Tor Vergata – Italy (1998), and the Wellcome Trust Center for Human Genetics in Oxford – UK (1999-2000), where he studied the genetics of asthma and allergy with Bill Cookson. He then moved to Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm – Sweden (2000), where he developed an independent research profile as a Junior PI (2003), and later became Associate Professor (2009) and Group Leader with research focused on the genetics of gastrointestinal diseases like inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease and others. He became Ikerbasque Research Professor and was recruited as Group Leader at Biocruces HRI in Bilbao (2015), and later at Biodonostia HRI in San Sebastian – Spain (2016-2018). Most recently, he was at Monash University in Melbourne – Australia, as tenured Professor of Genetics & Genomics and Head of the Gastrointestinal Genetics Unit at the School of Biological Sciences (2019-2020).
Mauro has 20 years research experience, has supervised more than 40 PhD students and postdocs, has taught genetic subjects to undergraduate and post-graduate students at University La Sapienza, Karolinska Institutet, and Monash University, and has formal training in leadership, management, supervision and academic teaching from the Karolinska Institutet and Monash University. He provides expert feedback to international research funding agencies and academic appointment committees, reviewer work for several international journals, and serves on multiple international boards of trustees and executive committees.
Mauro has edited 2 books and published extensively in the research area of human genetics and GI disease, often in top ranking journals like Nature, NEJM, Cell, Lancet, Nature Genetics, Nature Immunology, Gut, Gastroenterology, and others.
Latest Publications
2022
2021
2020
Research in the Gastrointestinal Genetics Lab is geared towards a translational application for therapeutic precision in gastroenterology. The team combines leading expertise in genomic, computational and pre-clinical research to identify causative genes and pathogenetic mechanisms influencing gastrointestinal (GI) disease risk and human microbiome composition. The druggable genome and nutrigenetics are also new research lines of high interest, especially in relation to the possibility to treat GI conditions and dysbiosis.
Our current research in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), microscopic colitis (MC), gastroparesis (Gp) and other GI diseases is at the scientific forefront in the field, and takes advantage of an extremely large network of international collaboration (>60 research groups and institutions across EU, USA and Australasia).
We serve as analytical hub for several coordinated efforts aimed to exploit big data from large-scale, population-based cohorts and biobanks including more than 1 million people across the world (UK Biobank, LifeLines, EGCUT, Mayo GC, MGI, KPRB, HUNT, FGFP, Genes for Good, TWIBS, PopCol, and many others).
Our research contributes to the activities of multiple consortia including the bellygenes inititative we coordinate on the genetics of IBS, the International IBD Genetics Consortium (IIBDGC), the European Microscopic Colitis Group (EMCG), the Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium (NIDDK-GpCRC), the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO), and others.
Research from the Gastrointestinal Genetics Lab has received and receives funding from national and international agencies (Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation, the Basque Government, Swedish Research Council, Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, EU-FP7-HEALTH) and the pharma sector (AstraZeneca, Almirall, Medical Need, QOL Medical).
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Leire Torices Cabarcos
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Cristina Esteban Blanco
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Isotta Bozzarelli
TECHNICIANS / DOCTORAL CANDIDATES -
Andreea Zamfir Taranu