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Francesco Cappello is a Full Professor of Histology at the University of Palermo, Italy. Born in Palermo in 1973, he completed his classical secondary education in 1991, graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1997, and specialized in Pathological Anatomy in 2002.

His entire academic career has been linked to the University of Palermo, where he became Researcher in Human Anatomy in 2001, Associate Professor in 2010, and Full Professor in 2016. Since 2021, he has held a Full Professorship in Histology.

Professor Cappello’s research focuses on cell differentiation, tissue homeostasis, and organ remodeling under both physiological and pathological conditions. His experimental models include stress, physical exercise, and carcinogenesis. Together with Alberto JL Macario and Everly Conway de Macario, he contributed to the development of the concept of “chaperonopathy”, now widely acknowledged in major international textbooks of Pathological Anatomy and General Pathology.

Throughout his career, he has established extensive international collaborations and has served as Visiting Researcher and Visiting Professor at several universities worldwide, including institutions in Baltimore, Gdańsk, Geneva, New York, and Malta. He has also been appointed Adjunct Professor at Temple University (Philadelphia) and at Texas University (Galveston), and has held honorary affiliations with research institutes such as the Institute of Biophysics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in Palermo and the “Paolo Sotgiu” Institute in Lugano.

He is the author of numerous scientific publications and has received awards in recognition of his research achievements. He is a member of several national and international scientific societies, Life Member and Senior Fellow of the Cell Stress Society International, and serves as Academic Editor, peer reviewer, and scientific evaluator for research funding agencies in Italy and abroad.

Since 2009, he has been Scientific Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Institute of Science and Technology (IEMEST) in Palermo. From 2019 to 2023, he directed the Interdepartmental Research Center for the Enhancement of Body Donation to Science (CIR-COSCIENZA) at the University of Palermo. Since 2020, he has served as President of the Italian Society of Experimental Biology (SIBS-1925), and since 2022, he has been Vice-Rector for Student Affairs at the University of Palermo.

He has coordinated a PhD program in Biomedicine, directed a School of Specialization in Sports Medicine, and curated the University’s Anatomical Collection, part of the Museum System of the University of Palermo, which preserves teaching instruments in Anatomy and Histology from the 16th century to the present.

Professor Cappello has secured and managed significant research funding, enabling the creation of new laboratories and the support of young researchers through fellowships and research contracts. He has supervised more than 200 undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral theses, mentoring a new generation of scholars now active in universities in Italy and abroad

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Professor of Robotics, University of Palermo
Director, RoboticsLab, Department of Engineering

Professor Antonio Chella is a full Professor of Robotics at the University of Palermo, where he also directs the RoboticsLab within the Department of Engineering. His research focuses on cognitive robotics, artificial consciousness, and cognitive architectures, and in recent years he has expanded his work to include robot perception and inner speech.

He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Machine Consciousness, now known as the Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness. Among his many achievements, he has been awarded the James S. Albus Medal by the BICA Society. He is the author of over 200 publications and has coordinated numerous national and international research projects, reflecting his leadership and influence in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence.

Professor Antonio Chella’s work bridges foundational research in cognitive robotics with applied studies in artificial consciousness, contributing innovative approaches to the design of intelligent machines and advancing our understanding of the interface between human cognition and robotic systems.