Fondazione Koelliker

Prof. Marco Ranucci

Head of the Cardiovascular Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit

Professor Marco Ranucci is the Head of the Cardiovascular Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit at IRCCS Policlinico San Donato. He is a Contract Professor in the Specialization Course in Anesthesia and Intensive Care and in the University Course of Cardiovascular Perfusion at the University of Milan.

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan in 1980, he specialized in Anesthesia and Intensive Care in 1983 at the same university, and in Sports Medicine in 1986 at the University of Pavia.

Professor Ranucci was a Hospital Assistant at the Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento in Milan and joined Policlinico San Donato in 1984, where he held the position of Deputy Chief until 1995 and Chief of the Cardiovascular Anesthesia Service until 2018.

He was the founder and President of the Italian Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiologists (ITACTA) in 1998, President of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiologists (EACTA) from 2008 to 2010, and since 2003, he has been the Director of the International Course INTERCEPT – International Course on ExtraCorporeal Perfusion Technologies.

Professor Ranucci is the author of 337 indexed papers, published in the most authoritative scientific journals, and of 4 monographs: "Core Topics in Transoesophageal Echocardiography" (Cambridge University Press), "Textbook of Cardiac Anaesthesia" (Oxford University Press), "Point-of-Care Test for Severe Haemorrhage" (Springer-Verlag), and "The Coagulation Labyrinth of Covid-19" (Springer).

Prof. Barbara Caputo

Artificial Intelligence Area

Full Professor at the Polytechnic University of Turin, Barba Caputo, directs the university's Artificial Intelligence Hub (AI-H@PoliTo). She obtained her PhD in Computer Science from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2005. She is one of the co-founders of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems Society and an ELLIS fellow (www.ellis.eu). She led the National PhD Program on AI & Industry 4.0 from 2021 to 2022. From 2022 to 2024, she was the Rector's Delegate for Artificial Intelligence at the Polytechnic University of Turin.

Professor Caputo is part of the 30 experts at the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) and the 9 experts at the Ministry of Technological Innovation and Digitalization (MITD) who developed the Italian National AI Strategy. She was named one of the 'Inspiring Fifty' in 2018 (https://italy.inspiringfifty.org/italy-2018), is among the 100 experts of the Bracco Foundation's initiative '100 Experts for Italy' (https://100esperte.it/), and is a recipient of an ERC grant. She appeared in Topolino with her alter-ego ‘Barb Quackut’ in 2020. In 2021, she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Southern Denmark for her contributions to AI in computer vision and robotics.

She serves as an independent board member of Ites Reale, Ites Reale España, Teoresi SpA, and Infocamere. Since November 2022, she has been a co-founder of Focoos AI, a spin-off of the Polytechnic University of Turin, and has served as its President since spring 2023.

Dr. Mara Falco

Diagnostic Imaging Area

Dr. Mara Falco earned her degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1999, and in 2004, she specialized in Radiodiagnostics at the University of Turin.
CT and MRI, she specialized in the musculoskeletal field with multiple training activities in Italy and abroad. Notable training experiences include those at the University of Lille, UCSD in San Diego under Professor Donald Resnick, and the University of Valencia.
From 2005 to 2014, she was responsible for the diagnostics of traumatic pathologies and the musculoskeletal system at San Giovanni Bosco Hospital in Turin.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Falco served as a consultant for CT imaging at the San Donato Group. In this role, she authored several publications, including the chapter "Radiologic Imaging of Thromboembolic Complications in COVID-19" in the volume "The Coagulation Labyrinth of COVID-19," which was the first published work on the etiopathogenesis of COVID-19. Dr. Falco has numerous publications at an international level as well.
Today, she is responsible for the imaging diagnostics center at Koelliker Hospital, where, in addition to clinical activities, she is involved in internal training in the field and dissemination of knowledge to external doctors. Over the years, Dr. Falco's inclination towards innovation and the study of new technologies has been fundamental. This attitude led her to propose new state-of-the-art equipment for the hospital.

Prof. Riccardo Ferracini

Orthopedic Area

Professor Riccardo Ferracini graduated with honors in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Turin and specialized in Orthopedics and Traumatology. He also obtained his PhD from Sapienza University in Rome. He won a cancer research scholarship at the State University of New York with a two-year program.

Throughout the years, he has worked at Savigliano (Civic Hospital), Toronto (Mount Sinai Hospital), Turin (Regina Maria Adelaide, Mauriziano, San Giovanni Battista, and CTO), and Genoa (San Martino).

Since 2017, he has been an Associate Professor of Orthopedics and Traumatology at the University of Genoa. Since 2019, he has been working at Koelliker Hospital, where he is part of the Orthopedics and Traumatology Unit. For over 10 years, he has been involved in reparative and regenerative orthopedics, treating or slowing down hip and knee osteoarthritis using adipose tissue rich in mesenchymal stem cells.

He has performed over 3000 surgeries, including prosthetic, arthroscopic, and other procedures using the most modern minimally invasive surgical techniques. Over the years, he has also treated approximately 370 oncology patients.

He is the author and co-author of around 120 scientific publications in international journals and has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences. His citation index (H-INDEX) is 35.

Dr. Marra Sebastiano

Cardiology Area

Dr. Sebastiano Marra graduated in Medicine and Surgery in Turin in 1974 and specialized in Cardiology, also in Turin, in 1977.

From 1975 to 1979, he was an assistant in Cardiology in Ivrea; from 1979 onwards, he worked at Molinette Hospital, progressing from Assistant to Director of Cardiology as of 2/11/04. He founded post-MI rehabilitation in 1977 and Hemodynamics in 1979. He gained experience at Brompton Hospital in London (1982-1983) and at the Mayo Clinic in 1987.

He introduced Nuclear Cardiology (1981), myocardial biopsy (1985), Coronary Angioplasty (1984), Directional Atherectomy (1991), and coronary stents (1992). He was the director of the Hemodynamics Laboratory at Molinette (1993) and of Hospital Cardiology (2004), and subsequently the director of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Department at the AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino (2013-2015).

He is currently the head of the Cardiology Department at Koelliker Hospital in Turin, with approximately 200 publications and recognized cultural activities.