He completed his residency in General Surgery with magna cum laude at the University of Padua, Italy. He spent several years in Xenotransplantation Research under the supervision of Dr. Emanuele Cozzi (Italy) and Dr. David K.C. Cooper at the Thomas Starzl Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh, where he also completed his research for the PhD training. He is a member of many societies including, AST, ASTS, ESOT, ILTS, SITO, AASLD. He currently serves as a member of the Grant Review Committee, ASTS and of the Basic Science Committee, ILTS. He published >80 scientific papers and won several young investigator awards (ATC, ILTS, IXA, TTS). He currently serves on the editorial board of Xenotransplantation and International Journal of Surgery.