Graziella Pellegrini, PhD, is a full professor of Applied Biology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and director of the Cell Therapy Programme at the Stefano Ferrari Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

She loves the idea of being able to use cell cultures to reconstruct damaged parts of a human being. She pioneered the use of epithelial stem cells in medicine and is internationally known for developing cell therapy protocols for the treatment of patients with skin and eye burns. For these discoveries, which have helped cure hundreds of patients, she was awarded the prestigious Louis-Jeantet 2020 Prize in Geneva and the Lombardy is Research 2018 Prize from the Lombardy Region. She is co-founder and R&D director of the biotech company Holostem Terapie Avanzate.