Claudio Ponticelli, MD
September 2, 1936 - January 1, 2026
Claudio Ponticelli earned his medical degree from the University of Milan in Milan, Italy, in 1961. He completed his residency at the University of Milan in 1964 and then worked in the Division of Nephrology at Ospedale Maggiore in Milan until his retirement in October 2003. He also earned specialist degrees in endocrinology from the University of Turin in 1963, urology from the University of Milan in 1970, and nephrology from the University of Turin in 1972.
From 1983 to 2003, Professor Ponticelli served as Professor of Nephrology at the University of Milan. Beginning in 2006, he served as Visiting Professor of Nephrology at the University of Brescia in Brescia, Italy. He worked as a consultant for Novartis Italy and, starting in October 2004, for the Istituto Scientifico Auxologico in Milan.
Dr. Ponticelli's research focused primarily on transplantation, the development of immunosuppressive therapies for kidney transplant recipients, the treatment of membranous glomerulonephritis with immunosuppressive agents, urinary sedimentation, the treatment of primary and secondary glomerulitis, and dialysis.
Dr. Ponticelli authored more than 640 publications in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Transplantation, Kidney International, and the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. He also wrote numerous book chapters and edited or coedited several books. His H-index was 69.
He served or continued to serve on the editorial boards of Clinical Nephrology, Nephron, American Journal of Transplantation, Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, and the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, among others. He also held honorary membership in several nephrological societies, including the Romanian Society of Nephrology, the Société de Néphrologie, and the Italian Society of Nephrology.
During his career, Professor Ponticelli served on the councils of the Italian Society of Nephrology, the Italian-American Society of Nephrology, and the International Society of Nephrology. He also served on the Nominations Committee of the International Society of Nephrology and served as President of the Italian Society of Nephrology from 1998 to 2000.
Dr. Ponticelli received the Harris Prize and Gold Medals from the cities of Milan and Terni in Italy, as well as from the Catalan Society of Transplantation. He held honorary FRCP status in Edinburgh and served as an honorary speaker at the University of Toronto in Canada.
He received the Eurolupus Meritorius Award in Athens in 2015, the ERA/EDTA Award for outstanding scientific achievements in London in 2016, and the Luigi Migone Award from the Italian Society of Nephrology in Rimini in 2017.
Dr. Ponticelli passed away in early 2026.
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