Fabiola Terzi facts for kids

Fabiola Terzi is a scientist and doctor from both Italy and France. She is well-known for her important research on chronic kidney disease. This is a long-term problem where the kidneys don't work as well as they should. Since January 2020, she has been the director of a big research center in Paris. This center is called the Institut Necker-Enfants Malades (INEM).

Fabiola Terzi's Journey

Fabiola Terzi went to medical school at the University of Milan in Italy. She earned her medical degree there in 1986. After that, she trained to become a pediatrician. A pediatrician is a doctor who specializes in treating children. She focused on pediatric nephrology, which means she became a kidney doctor for kids.

In 1989, she moved to Paris, France. There, she continued her training in pediatric nephrology. She also started working on her Ph.D. project. During this time, she became very interested in how kidney diseases happen at a tiny, molecular level.

After getting her doctorate, she continued her research as a postdoc. This is a special training period after a Ph.D. She worked in different research teams in Paris.

Focusing on Kidney Disease

Over time, Fabiola Terzi started to focus more and more on how chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects the body. CKD is a serious condition where the kidneys slowly lose their ability to filter waste from the blood.

In 2003, she began to build her own research laboratory. This lab is called "Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies of Chronic Kidney Disease." She has been the head of this lab ever since.

When the Institute Necker-Enfants Malades (INEM) was created in 2014, she became the head of its "Growth and Signaling" department. This institute works with important research groups like the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research.

Since January 2020, Fabiola Terzi has been the director of INEM. She is in charge of 19 different research teams. She also helps edit a science journal called Nephron. She has been an editor for the "Experimental Nephrology and Genetics" section since 2015.

What Fabiola Terzi Studies

Fabiola Terzi's scientific work looks at what happens inside cells that can either stop or make chronic kidney disease worse. She tries to understand the different processes and genetic instructions that cause these events.

She has created special ways to study CKD in the lab. For example, she uses a model that shows what happens when the number of working nephrons (tiny filtering units in the kidney) is reduced. Through this work, she has found important ways that CKD develops. She has also found possible targets for new medicines.

Her team discovered that a pathway called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) can make kidney damage worse. This happens after the number of nephrons is reduced.

Finding New Clues

Besides her lab work, Fabiola Terzi has also been part of studies that help people. These studies have found new biomarkers. Biomarkers are signs in the body that can show how a kidney disease is progressing. These discoveries are so important that they are protected by five patents. A patent means no one else can use her discovery without permission.

Fabiola Terzi is also a co-founder of TrainCKDis. This is a European program that trains the next generation of top kidney scientists. It is supported by the European Union.

Awards and Special Recognition

Fabiola Terzi has received several important awards for her work in kidney research.

• In 2009, she won the Grand Prize of the French National Academy of Medicine.
• In 2011, she received the Prize of the French Kidney Foundation.