Marcello Arca

Professor Arca received his MD degree in 1985 and his post-graduate specialization in Liver and Metabolism Diseases in 1988, both from Sapienza University of Rome. From 1989 to 1993, he held post-doctoral positions at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, first at the Nutrition Center, under the supervision of Prof. Scott M. Grundy, and then at the Department of Molecular Genetics under the supervision of Prof. Helen Hobbs. After his return to Italy, he was appointed as researcher and staff member of the Lipid Center at Sapienza University of Rome. In 2001, he became Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and since 2019 he is Full Professor of Internal Medicine, at Sapienza University of Rome. Furthermore, from January 2021 to September 2024, he was Director of the Department of Translational and Precision Medicine at Sapienza University of Rome. In the period 2019-2022, I have also served as President of the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis (SISA).

He is currently Chief of the Unit of Internal Medicine and Metabolic Diseases and Director of the Unit for Rare Disorders of Lipid Metabolism at the Policlinico Umberto I University Hospital in Rome.

He is serving as Coordinator of the PhD Program in Innovative Biomedical Technologies and Director of the Master in Clinical Research and Pharmacovigilance, also at Sapienza University of Rome.

Prof. Arca’s main research interests focus on the genetic causes of dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis, on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and on the action of lipid-lowering drugs. His main achievement was the discovery of autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia (ARH) and the characterization of the functions of ANGPTL3. He has published as author or co-author more than 300 publications in these areas in peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of the European Atherosclerosis Society, a Fellow of the International Atherosclerosis Society and a Professional Member of the AHA.