Prof. Emilio Vanoli MD

Prof. Emilio Vanoli is Associate Professor of Cardiology at the University of Pavia, a position he has held since January 1996. He also serves as co-founder and research lead at NeuHeart SrL, an academic spin-off in joint venture with Molteni Pharmaceuticals focused on expanding research on nerve growth factor in cardiovascular disease. Since April 2024 he has operated as an independent cardiologist with a focus on cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure in the Como area of Lombardy, Italy. Previously, he served as Director of the Heart Failure Clinic at MultiMedica in Sesto San Giovanni from October 2013 to February 2021, and as Associate Professor at the Policlinico di Monza from 2006 to 2013. He holds an Adjunct Associate Professorship at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

Prof. Vanoli’s primary research focus is on the autonomic mechanisms involved in cardiac tachyarrhythmias, with particular depth in the interaction between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in cardiac function, the role of vagal stimulation in preventing sudden cardiac death, and the effects of antiarrhythmic interventions on life-threatening arrhythmias induced by acute myocardial ischemia and sympathetic hyperactivity. His methodological contributions include investigator-initiated studies of vagal stimulation in canine models of healed myocardial infarction and seminal work on baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) as a modulator of autonomic balance in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

His more recent research has expanded to include baroreflex activation therapy for advanced heart failure, SGLT2 inhibition and its renal and cardiac mechanisms, CardioMEMS remote hemodynamic monitoring, heart failure disease progression and sudden cardiac death prevention, and the cardiovascular autonomic profiling of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis receiving fingolimod. He is co-author of the handbook Brain and Heart Dynamics (Springer, 2019/2020), reflecting his longstanding interest in the neurocardiac axis. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health in the United States and relevant Italian ministries.

Prof. Vanoli has served as a named investigator and contributor on clinical studies of baroreflex activation therapy in heart failure patients, including a pilot study in 11 NYHA Class III heart failure patients demonstrating persistent sympathoinhibitory effects of BAT over 21 months, and a follow-up study reporting normalization of sympathetic neural function at 43 months (Journal of Hypertension 2017, PMID available via ResearchGate). He has contributed to studies of the cardiovascular autonomic profile of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients in the context of fingolimod first-dose cardiac monitoring (the BEAT study), published in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences (2019, DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2019.116423).

He has also contributed to clinical research on bone marrow-derived stem cell implantation for no-option critical limb-threatening ischemia (JVS Vascular Science 2023), and on hospital resource utilization in heart failure patients treated with BAT (Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2014).

Prof. Vanoli has authored more than 130 publications with over 5,900 citations He is an Honorary Member of the Indian Heart Failure Society. He is a member of the European Society of Cardiology, a membership he has held since 1992. His work has been published in journals including Heart Failure Reviews, Journal of Hypertension, International Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, PLOS ONE, European Heart Journal, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Prof. Vanoli received his medical doctorate from the University of Milano in 1980 and completed his specialist qualification in cardiology at the University of Milano in 1982. He has held his academic position at the University of Pavia since January 1996 and his adjunct associate professorship at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.