Professor Luciana Teofili is the new general director of the National Blood Centre, succeeding Dr. Vincenzo De Angelis who has held the position since August 2020.
Originally from Atri in the province of Teramo, Professor Teofili is the first woman to hold this position. Her CV includes the role of medical director at the Immunohematology and Transfusion Medicine Service of the Policlinico Gemelli and since 2020 she has been professor of Blood Diseases at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome.
She also trained at the Università Cattolica, first graduating in Medicine and Surgery, then specialising in General and Laboratory Haematology and subsequently obtaining a doctorate in Integrated Oncology. During her university career, her research touched on various areas, such as regenerative medicine, particularly studying the topic of transfusion therapy in anemia of preterm newborns with allogenic concentrated red blood cells from cord blood.
“Fulfilling the role of Director General of the CNS – said Teofili – in addition to being a source of personal pride, is certainly a complex task full of challenges. The blood system of our country faces a series of ambitious goals, such as achieving self-sufficiency in plasma-derived products, for example, and also reaching August 2027 — the deadline to comply with the new European regulation on substances of human origin — without strain. These results can only be achieved by working in harmony and synergy with all the actors in the system, from the Ministry of Health to the Regional Coordination Structures, including scientific societies, donor and patient associations, and representatives of European and international institutions.”