Gaetano "Nino" Salvatore (28 July 1932 – 25 June 1997) was an Italian endocrinologist known for his extensive research on the thyroid gland. He spent the majority of his career in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

' Stazione Zoologica and the

University of Naples Federico II The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

, while also spending periods at the American

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

and in France.

Life and career

Salvatore studied medicine at the

and, after graduating, travelled to Paris to work at the Collège de France with the endocrinologist Jean Roche. During his time in Paris from 1956 to 1958, he developed an interest in endocrinology and particularly the thyroid gland. He returned to Naples in 1959 and continued to collaborate with Roche on research into thyroid diseases at the Stazione Zoologica. In 1961, he moved to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

before relocating again in 1962 to the United States, where he worked in Jacob Robbins and Joseph Edward Rall's laboratory at the

(NIH) in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, until 1964. Salvatore returned to Naples in 1964, where he hosted many foreign investigators, and continued to visit laboratories across Europe and the United States. He intermittently spent time at the NIH in Bethesda, where he was a professor of general pathology between 1972 and 1974, and received a NIH Fogarty Scholarship in 1977. He headed the Centre of Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) from 1972 to 1997 and served as dean of the University of Naples Federico II medical school from 1981 to 1997. He was also president of Stazione Zoologica from 1987 and chair of the CNR Committee for Biotechnology from 1994, both until his death in 1997. He successfully advocated for the introduction of

iodised salt Iodised salt (American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), also spelled iodized salt) is Salt#Edible salt, table salt mixed with a minute amount of various iodine salts. The ingestion of iodine prevents iod ...

to prevent endemic goitre and universal

newborn screening Newborn screening (NBS) is a public health program of screening (medicine), screening in infants shortly after birth for conditions that are treatable, but not clinically evident in the newborn period. The goal is to identify infants at risk for ...

for

congenital hypothyroidism Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is thyroid hormone deficiency present at birth. If untreated for several months after birth, severe congenital hypothyroidism can lead to growth failure and permanent intellectual disability. Infants born with co ...

in Italy.

Research

Salvatore's early research at the NIH focused on the synthesis and structure of thyroglobulin. He discovered in the 1960s that thyroid hormones can be found in the lowest classes of vertebrates and invertebrates. At the NIH, he and his collaborators developed a method for purifying and isolating thyroid iodoproteins (proteins containing iodine) and subsequently discovered a new iodoprotein named 27S thyroglobulin. In the 1980s, he developed the FRTL-5 cell line of rat thyroid cells that was adopted worldwide for performing various functions of the thyroid gland in ''in vitro'' experiments. He also contributed to the discovery of the ''RET'' proto-oncogene's role in thyroid cancer and the role of various other genes in thyroid development. His last research paper, published posthumously, covered the synthesis of thyroid hormones within the thyroglobulin molecule.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvatore, Nino 1932 births 1997 deaths Italian endocrinologists Italian medical researchers Physicians from Naples University of Naples Federico II alumni Academic staff of the University of Naples Federico II National Institutes of Health faculty National Research Council (Italy) people