PONGOLINI STEFANO - IZS della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna

Europass
Curriculum Vitae
Personal information
First name(s) / Surname(s)
Address(es)
Stefano Pongolini
16 via Cordero, I-43056 San Polo di Torrile (PR) - Italy
Telephone(s) (39-30) 22 90 631
(39-521) 81 38 82
Fax(es) (39-30) 22 90 537
E-mail
stefano.pongolini@izsler.it
Mobile: 347 06 46 326
335 14 36 380
Nationality
Italian
Date of birth 9 October 1964
Gender
Male
Work experience
Dates
Occupation or position held
Main activities and responsibilities
January 2010 onwards
Official Veterinarian in charge of Risk Assessment at IZSLER
Organization and management of Risk Assessment activity pertaining the fields of animal health and
food safety, within the remit of IZSLER mandate.
Name and address of employer Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER), Via Bianchi 9,
I-25124 Brescia - web site: http:// www.izsler.it
Type of business or sector
Occupation or position held
Main activities and responsibilities
Official veterinary laboratory for the study, diagnosis and prophylaxis of animal diseases and food
hygiene
Dates April 2002 - December 2009
Head of Laboratory - Station of Modena
Head of Laboratory of molecular biology and TSE testing with 10 staff; activities:
- molecular epidemiology of food-borne pathogens (microbiological genotyping)
- TSE testing (unique laboratory at multiregional level) performing 150.000 tests/year
- sheep genotyping for scrapie resistance plans (unique laboratory at regional level)
- molecular diagnosis of animal infectious diseases
- deputy director of Modena Station of IZSLER
Name and address of employer Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER), Via Bianchi 9,
I-25124 Brescia - web site: http:// www.izsler.it
Type of business or sector
Occupation or position held
Official veterinary laboratory for the study, diagnosis and prophylaxis of animal diseases and food
hygiene
Dates December 1993 - March 2002
Official Veterinarian - Station of Modena

Main activities and responsibilities
- Food microbiology and assistance to sanitary officials and producers in food hygiene self-control
monitoring
- Laboratory diagnosis of animal diseases (mostly infectious diseases of farm animals) including
necropsy, microbiology, serology and PCR
- TSE testing (starting in January 2001)
- Quality assurance of laboratory (ISO 17025)
- Internal auditor in the framework of the quality system of the institution (ISO 19011)
Name and address of employer Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER), Via Bianchi 9,
I-25124 Brescia - web site: http:// www.izsler.it
Type of business or sector
Occupation or position held
Main activities and responsibilities
Official veterinary laboratory for the study, diagnosis and prophylaxis of animal diseases and food
hygiene
Dates January 1993 - August 1993
Research Fellow
Amplification, cloning and sequencing of part of the genome of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus
Name and address of employer Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia-Romagna (IZSLER), Via Bianchi 9,
I-25124 Brescia - web site: http:// www.izsler.it
Type of business or sector
Occupation or position held
Main activities and responsibilities
Name and address of employer
Type of business or sector
Education and training
Official veterinary laboratory for the study, diagnosis and prophylaxis of animal diseases and food
hygiene
Dates 8 May 1990 - 29 June 1990
Research Fellow
Study of the structure of intermolecular cross-links of collagen: methods for detection of modified
aminoacids in collagen hydrolysates from different muscle collagen fractions
AFRC (Agricultural and Food Research Council) – Bristol (UK)
Research Institute in agriculture and food areas of MAFF (now DEFRA)
Dates November 2000 - July 2002
Title of qualification awarded Specialization Degree in veterinary legislation full mark - cum laude
Principal subjects/occupational skills
covered
Name and type of organisation
providing education and training
Level in national or international
classification
Structure of the national legal system, of the national and european veterinary legislation and of the
institutional organization of the European Union, specifically:
- criminal law and criminal procedure
- civil law and civil procedure
- international law and of the European Union
- administrative law
- commercial law
- work law
- study of national and European veterinary legislation and jurisprudence, including sanitary risk
analysis in medium and large food production plants
University of Parma (Italy)
Postgraduate specialization
Dates November 1993 - July 1996
Title of qualification awarded Specialization Degree in avian pathology and technology full mark
Principal subjects/occupational skills
covered
Name and type of organisation
providing education and training
Level in national or international
classification
- Structure, organization and technology of the avian production industry (including feed production,
slaughter and transformation technology)
- Avian pathology with particular attention to disease management in intensive breeding
- Commercial aspects of the avian production industry
- Hygiene of avian food products
- Legislation
University of Milan (Italy)
Postgraduate specialization

Dates November 1991 - November 1992
Title of qualification awarded Master in zooprophylaxis full mark
Principal subjects/occupational skills
covered
Name and type of organisation
providing education and training
- Prevention and control of infectious diseases of farm animals in intensive breeding
- Laboratory diagnostic methods of infectious diseases and food poisoning agents (veterinary
laboratory bacteriology, virology, serology, parasitology and molecular biology)
- Legislation and public health strategies for disease control
Fondazione iniziative zooprofilattiche e zootecniche - Brescia (Italy)
Dates January 1984 - December 1989
Title of qualification awarded Doctor in Veterinary Medicine full mark - cum laude
Name and type of organisation
providing education and training
Level in national or international
classification
Personal skills and
competences
University of Parma (Italy)
Graduate
Mother tongue(s)
Italian
Other language(s)
Self-assessment Understanding Speaking Writing
European level (*) Listening Reading Spoken interaction Spoken production
English C1 Proficient user C2 Proficient user C1 Proficient user C1 Proficient user C1 Proficient user
(*) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
Social skills and competences
Organisational skills and
competences
Social orientation is an essential component of my personality and professional experience. My duties
very often imply a team-based approach to working issues. In particular:
- interaction with many collaborators (technicians and graduated staff), temporary frequenters as
well as superior management and the central administration of the Institution is the essential part
of my work
- communication with the end-users of laboratory services (sanitary officials, private veterinarians,
breeders and food industry operators) is everyday job
- official meetings, working groups and informal contacts with central regional and national health
authorities are frequent, given the central role of Istituti Zooprofilattici in Italian health system
- for the same reason, we receive external audits (including those from foreign institutions and
international bodies) and we interact with the press (especially in the occasion of public interest
sanitary crisis)
My work is based on the capacity to organize both my individual daytime and the functions of my
collaborators. Furthemore, my organisational competences have been developed on the basis of the
following experience, among others:
- over 15 years working experience in a very articulated organization (IZSLER) both at the
technical and at the logistic and administrative level, with many different operative sectors and 17
different locations
- in charge of Quality assurance of Modena Station of IZSLER I led the laboratories of this location
to accreditation in 2001 (4 laboratories with ca 20 operators)
- implementation between 1998 and 2000 and direction of the laboratory of molecular biology for
the molecular diagnosis and study of infectious diseases and food poisoning agents, specifically
for molecular epidemiology purposes. From 2001 the laboratory operates for TSE rapid testing,
carrying out ca 150.000 test/year with 10-12 dedicated staff (second largest TSE laboratory in
Italy with 20% of national testing activity)

Computer skills and competences
Other skills and competences
Additional information
Use of the Office platform and of different specialized software for the use of laboratory equipment
and management of laboratory systems, such as those involved in the analysis of molecular biology
data (genetic polymorphism, SNPs, DNA sequencing, fragment analysis of DNA by capillary
electrophoresis etc.); use of software from remote servers for the retrieval and analysis of
bioinformatic data and scientific literature (e.g. The NCBI platform); specialized software for risk
modelling by Monte-Carlo simulation like @Risk and CrystalBall.
Knowledge of risk assessment modelling techniques (also following specific courses at “Vose
Consulting” and “Statistics.com”).
Intermediate knowledge of biostatistics, especially in relation to methods validation and epidemiology.
Responsible for metrology and calibration of temperature measuring devices of my Institution.
Deep knowledge of the world of primary production (Member of a family of dairy farmers)
Contract professor at the University of Bologna in the academic year 2003/04 for the course of “BSE
surveillance” of the Specialization School in Animal Health, Breeding and Animal Productions.
Teacher in several masters and education events both at IZSLER, Universities and other official
bodies.
Author of seminars, tutor of pre and post-graduate students for thesis work.
Author of twenty scientific publications.
Brescia, 15 th January 2010