Maria Grazia Pennisi

Board Member

Maria Grazia Pennisi qualified from the faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Messina (Italy) in 1979. She obtained her PhD in applied Microbiology in 1982 and won scholarships to attend the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno (Portici, Naples) and the National Research Council (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche,Rome).
From 1983 to 1991, she was appointed researcher in Clinical Veterinary Medicine at the University of Messina.
In 1991, she became Associate Professor and in 2000 Full Professor in Clinical Veterinary Medicine at the same faculty.
Since 1997 she is member of the editorial board of the journals “Bollettino AIVPA” and “Rassegna di Medicina Felina”.
She was Board member of the Associazione Italiana Veterinari Patologia Felina (Italian Veterinary Association for Feline Diseases) from 2005 to 2011 and is honour member of AIVPA (Associazione Italiana Veterinari Piccoli Animali). Since 2006 she is founding member of the international association LeishVet.
She has a particular interest in feline medicine, feline infectious diseases, clinical immunology and small animal arthropod borne diseases. She is author or co-author of some 140 papers published in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and is a frequent invited speaker at national and international congresses.

My list of 10 selected publications
  • PENNISI MG (2002) A high prevalence of feline leishmaniasis in southern Italy. In: Canine leishmaniasis: moving  towards a solution. Proceedings of the second  International  Canine  Leishmaniasis Forum. Sevilla , Spain 2002, 39-48.
  • PENNISI M.G., VENZA M, REALE S, VITALE F, LO GIUDICE S (2004). Case report of leishmaniasis in four cats. Veterinary Research Communications, 28: S363- S366, ISSN: 0165-7380.
  • PENNISI M.G.; DE MAJO M; MASUCCI M; BRITTI D; VITALE F; DEL MASO R (2005). Efficacy of the treatment of dogs with leishmaniosis with a combination of metronidazole and spiramycin. VETERINARY RECORD (ISSN:0042-4900), 156:346- 349.
  • MASUCCI M, GULOTTA L, MALARA D, PERILLO L, PENNISI MG (2006). Autoanticorpi sierici in corso di infezione da FIV. ATTI SISVet, 60: 239-240, ISSN: 1825-4454.
  • PENNISI MG, ALONGI A, AGNONE A, VITALE F, REALE S, TORINA A (2007). Cats as reservoir of Babesia microti. Parassitologia, 49:100.
  • MAROLI M, PENNISI MG, DI MUCCIO T, KHOURY C, GRADONI L, GRAMICCIA M (2007). Infection of sandflies by a cat naturally infected with Leishmania infantum. Veterinary Parasitology, 145: 357-360, ISSN: 0304-4017.
  • BRIANTI E, PENNISI MG, RISITANO A.L, GAGLIO G, GIANNETTO S (2008). Feline aelurostrongylosis an understimated disease: prevalence study and therapeutic trial in cats of southern Italy. Parassitologia, 50, ISSN: 0048-2951.
  • Solano-Gallego L., Koutinas A., Mirò G., Cardoso L., Pennisi M.G., Ferrer L., Bourdeau P., Oliva G., Baneth G. (2009). Directions for the diagnosis, clinical staging, treatment and prevention of canine leishmaniosis. VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY (ISSN:0304-4017), 1- 18, 165.
  • PENNISI MG, LA CAMERA E, GIACOBBE L, ORLANDELLA B.M., LENTINI V, ZUMMO S, FERA M.T. (2010). Molecular detection of  Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae in clinical samples of pet cats from Southern Italy. Research in Veterinary Science, 88: 379-384. ISSN: 0034-5288.
  • Lombardo G, Pennisi MG, Lupo T, Migliazzo A, Caprì A, Solano-Gallego L (2012). Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA by real-time PCR in canine oral and conjunctival swabs and comparison with other diagnostic techniques. VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY (ISSN:0304-4017), 184:10-17.