Professor Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Professor of Food Microbiology and Emerging Risks, has been elected Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences for the four-year period 2024/25 - 2027/28.
Professor Cocconcelli is the seventh dean in the history of the faculty, following Francesco Vito (dean from 1951 to 1955), Giuseppe Piana (1955-1981), Vittorio Cappa (1981-1988), Gianfranco Piva (1988-2009), Lorenzo Morelli (2009-2017) and the outgoing Marco Trevisan (2017-2024). He will take office on 1 November and will remain in office until 31 October 2028.
The election was attended, as established by the Statute of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, by the first and second-ranking professors of the faculty.
A member of the Board of Directors and Scientific Committee of the Pontifical Foundation Gravissimun Educationis of the Holy See's Dicastery for Culture and Catholic Education, from 2003 to the present he has worked as a scientific expert for food risk assessment at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
In 2020 he was appointed Secretary General of the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Research Universities (SACRU), an international network of eight Catholic universities. He is also President of CHEI, the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation and Director of TROFIC, Transdisciplinary Research on Food Issues Centre at Università Cattolica.
Coordinator of international, European and national research projects on microbiology and food safety, during his activity he has developed research activities on microbiology and bacterial genomics, with a focus on food, agricultural and food microbiology and microbiological risk assessment.
