Mauro Ferrari is a nanoscientist and leader in the field of nanomedicine. He served as special expert on nanotechnology for the National Cancer Institute and was instrumental in establishing the Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer in 2004. On 1 January 2020, Ferrari was made president of the European Research Council. On 7 April 2020, Ferrari resigned from his role as president of the ERC, stating to the media that he was "extremely disappointed by the European response” to the pandemic and expressing frustration over opposition to his efforts to launch a scientific program to combat the virus. On 8 April 2020, an EU Commission spokesperson confirmed the resignation, but did not elaborate. Subsequently, the ERC disputed details surrounding Ferrari's resignation.
Early life and education
Ferrari was born in Padova, Italy in 1959. He spent his early years in Udine and Florence before attending the University of Padova and earning his Laurea in Mathematics in 1985. He moved to Berkeley, California where he earned his master's and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of California Berkeley.
Career
Professor of Engineering
Ferrari became an associate professor of engineering at Berkeley, then moved to the Ohio State University as professor of bioengineering, internal medicine, and mechanical engineering. He studied medicine at the Ohio State University concurrent with his faculty appointment from 2002-2004.
In 2019, the European Commission appointed Ferrari as the next President of the European Research Council, succeeding Jean-Pierre Bourguignon; he was selected by a search committee chaired by Mario Monti. He took the post on 1 January 2020. Ferrari resigned in 7 April 2020, citing his disappointment at the lack of coordinated EU action to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Ferrari was not alone in his criticism of the EU response to COVID-19.The ERC countered that calling for specific research was contrary to their mandate. According to Science Magazine, "ERC, set up to reward bottom-up basic research ideas, does not designate money for specific research areas....Other EU organs can and do pay for research in particular fields, including COVID-19, but ERC is designed to protect science from politics. Ferrari writes that 'the expected burden of death, suffering, societal transformation, and economic devastation' of the pandemic justifies breaking this rule." The ERC responded on 8 April 2020: "...we regret Professor Ferrari's statement, which at best is economical with the truth." The ERC stated that Ferrari's "resignation in fact followed a written unanimous vote of no confidence”. They cited "a complete lack of appreciation for the raison-d’être of the ERC", "a lack of engagement with the ERC", with Ferrari "failing to participate in many important meetings, spending extensive time in the USA and failing to defend the ERC’s programme and mission," making "several personal initiatives within the Commission" without consulting the ERC, and being "involved in multiple external enterprises, some academic and some commercial, which took a lot of his time and effort and appeared on several occasions to take precedence over his commitment to ERC." Ferrari disputed the ERC claims of his failing to meet his obligations and their accusations of inappropriate outside involvements.
Ferrari has produced more than 350 publications, including seven books and 41 issued patents in the US and Europe.
Books
Ferrari M, Granik VT, Imam A, Nadeau J, editors. Advances in Doublet Mechanics. Lecture Notes in Physics, New Series M: Monographs, vol. m 45. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer Verlag; 1997.
Lee A, Lee J, Ferrari M, editors. BioMEMS and Biomedical Nanotechnology. Vol I: Biological and Biomedical Nanotechnology. Springer. 2006.
Ozkan M, Heller M, Ferrari M, editors. BioMEMS and Biomedical Nanotechnology. Vol II: Micro/Nanotechnologies for Genomics and Proteomics. Springer. 2006.
Desai T, Bhatia SN, Ferrari M, editors. BioMEMS and Biomedical Nanotechnology. Vol III: Therapeutic Micro/Nanotechnologies. Springer. 2006.
Bashir R, Werely S, Ferrari M, editors. BioMEMS and Biomedical Nanotechnology. Vol IV: Biomolecular Sensing, Processing, and Analysis. Springer. 2006.
Cristini V, Ferrari M, Decuzzi P, editors. Nanoparticulate Delivery to Cancerous Lesions: Advances in Mathematical Modeling. Ferrari M, series editor. Fundamental Biomedical Technologies. Vol. 2. Springer. April 2010.
2015 Aurel Stodola Medal, Mechanical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Personal life
Ferrari met and married his first wife Marialuisa while they were both students at the University of Padova, and they moved to Berkeley, California. While he was faculty at the University of California Berkeley, Marialuisa died from cancer. Ferrari married Paola Del Zotto from Udine, Italy in 1995. He has five children, including two sets of twins.
