Matteo Lorito is Full Professor of Plant Pathology and Rector of the University of Naples Federico II

Studies and professional career

• 1988 Degree in Biology cum laude

• 1988 Internship in Genetics and Plant Biology at the Institute of General Biology of the CNR

• 1989 CNR fellow at the CNR Center for the Study of Biological Fighting Techniques

• 1990-1994 Research Fellow at Cornell University, Departments of Horticultural Sciences and of Plant Pathology, NY, USA

• 1994-present Researcher, Associate Professor (2000), Full Professor (2006), at the Faculty / Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II and researcher associated with the CNR Institute for the Sustainable Protection of Plants

• 2016-2020 Director of the Department of Agriculture of the University of Naples Federico II

• 1-11-2020 Rector of the University of Naples Federico II

Management activities

Director of the Department of Arboriculture, Botany and Plant Pathology, Erasmus Delegate Faculty of Agriculture, Director of the PhD in Agrobiology and Agrochemistry, President of the PhD School in Agricultural and Agri-food Sciences, President of the Degree Courses  in Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and Environmental, Coordinator of the Section of Biology and Protection of Agricultural and Forestry Systems of the Department of Agriculture, President-designate of the School of Agriculture and Veterinary, elected member of the  Academic Senate (representative of the Full Prof. and then Representative of the Department Directors), member of the Scientific Committee of the Quality Presidium, vicar coordinator of the Statute and Regulations Commission, elected member of the Board of Directors  and vice-president of the Italian Society of Plant Pathology, President of the Italian Society of Plant Pathology (2020-present) etc.

International awards, recognitions and assignments

• 1995 OECD Fellow (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and visiting professor at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, and at the Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

• 1997 Fulbright Research Fellow at various Universities in the USA (Cornell, Auburn Arizona, Texas A&M)

• 2012 member of the US Presidency Advisory Commission on Global Food Security of the American Society of Microbiology

• 2010-13 scientific delegate UN-ONUDI (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) for projects in Central America on the reduction of methyl bromide

• 2007 Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society

• 2006 member of the Scientific Committee of the National Biotechnology Center in Tripoli, Libya

• 2014 member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts

• 2015-today scientific expert of the EU-OECD BioPesticides Steering Group

• 2007-14 member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions Senior Editor and Associate Editor of international area journals with high IF (Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Phytopathology, The Open Proteomic Journal, Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, IS-MPMI Reporter etc.) Chairman of the XIII International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction (Sorrento, Naples, Italy, July 2007) - about 1500 delegates, Member of the International Commission of the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF) of the IUMS (International Union of Microbiology Societies)

• 2018 receives the "Guido Dorso" International Award for "supporting the development and progress of Southern Italy"

• 2018 receives the Arciello Award - City of Portici

• 2019 receives the Capo d’Orlando Scientific Award for the Science and Food section

• 2020 receives the Voce di Napoli Award - Formare il Futuro 2021 | 50 Top Italy Scientific and other activities: He has been an invited speaker or chairperson at around 150 international events. He is co-founder of 3 spin-offs / startups: Phytobials, Biomarinex and RE & DIT. He has developed or helped develop about 10 formulations present on the global market today (90 countries) applied as biopesticides and biofertilizers in collaboration with various multinationals. He is the inventor of about 15 international patents (for about 30 submitted applications), and has raised funding on competitive tenders for about 15 million euros. He was tutor or co-tutor of Master's or PhD theses of about 50 students, including foreign university courses (France, Spain, Holland). He is the author of about 200 publications in journals with impact factor, has an H-Index of 62 and over 20.000 citations. The scientific activity involved the study of plant-environment-micro / macro-organism interactions, from basic genetic / biotechnological research to application in the field, aimed  at increasing the quality, quantity and sustainability of agricultural production.