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Dr. Basilico is the Jan Vilcek Professor of Molecular Pathogenesis and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology at New York University School of Medicine. After training in virology in Italy and the U.S., he dedicated the earlier part of his scientific career to the study of oncogenic viruses and of how these viruses interact with the host cell machinery to induce malignant transformation of cells in culture and in vivo. He also carried out pioneering studies on the mechanisms by which somatic cell mutations influence cell cycle progression and the genes and gene functions regulating cell division. In more recent years, Dr. Basilico’s work has focused on mechanisms through which signaling by growth factors of the FGF family regulates cell proliferation and differentiation. During the course of this work, he discovered and cloned the gene for human fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4), whose angiogenic activity mediates the therapeutic effects of Generx, Cardium’s lead product candidate. Dr. Basilico has published widely in numerous scientific journals, holds a number of patents for inventions in the FGF field and has acted as a consultant to several biotechnology companies. | 