Massimiliano Ruscica

Assistant Professor of General Pathology – Università degli Studi di Milano (Milan – Italy) Highlights With a Phd in Endocrinological and Metabolic Sciences, he is the author of 110 peer-reviewed manuscripts published in international journals. He is a member of the editorial board of \"PloS One\", and “Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy\". He regularly carries out teaching activities at the University of Milan – La Statale (https://www.unimi.it/it/ugov/person/massimiliano-ruscica) Research activity Having been trained in the endocrinological and metabolic disease fields, I have found the most rewarding development of my research career in the field of the lipid and inflammatory mechanisms of atherosclerosis. The main areas of interest are: (i) the link between LDL-lowering and inflammatory changes, the comparative evaluations of proprotein convertase subtilin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) antagonists and statins in this respect; (ii) HDL as a target and possible tool for atherosclerosis prevention and treatment. Acquisition of a special expertise in this field allowed me to interact with scientists working in the field of fertility, providing original contributions on the HDL functionality in hypogonadism secondary to testosterone deficiency, with a potential follow-up in testosterone treated individuals; (iii) impact of environmental pollutants on cardiovascular diseases (we provided data indicative of raised PCSK9 levels in individuals with a low inflammatory burden exposed to particulate matters).