Marquis Who's Who Millennium Magazine

308 MILLENNIUM F ascinated by the mechanisms that work to keep the human body alive and functioning, Camillo Peracchia embarked on a career of scientific discovery. After graduating summa cum laude and obtaining a medical degree from the University of Milan in 1962, and certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates in 1967, Dr. Peracchia had the tools necessary to research and explore the answers to the most pressing scientific questions. Shortly after obtaining his credentials, he began working at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where he remained for the length of his career. While at the facility, he held many positions, including assistant professor of physiology from 1970 to 1975, associate professor of physiology from 1975 to 1979, and tenured associate professor of physiology from 1979 to 1983. He also served as a professor of physiology from 1983 to 1996, acting chair of the department of physiology in 1995, a professor of pharmacology and physiology from 1996 to 2007, and professor emeritus of pharmacology and physiology. For over five decades, Dr. Peracchia’s research has been focused on cell-to-cell communication via gap junction channels, particularly those of molecular mechanisms that regulate the chemical gating of gap junction channels. In the early 1980s, he pioneered a theory that envisioned the direct role of calmodulin in the channel-gating mechanism and has been confirmed by numerous studies. A tenured educator, Dr. Peracchia was a visiting associate professor of anatomy at Harvard University Medical Center in 1978, and a member of the cell biology and physiology study section of the National Institutes of Health from 1991 to 1994. He has contributed his scientific knowledge as an editor of various books in his field as well as a co-author of “Lung Function in Health and Disease: Basic Concepts of Respiratory Physiology and Pathophysiology.” His accomplishments include earning research grants from Rochester Eye and Human Parts Inc. and the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of General Medical Sciences). Camillo Peracchia, MD Professor Emeritus University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY