© Federico De Luca 2014
Science / March 28, 2017

"Addio" to a Pioneer of Systems Biology and Bioinformatics

Italian bioinformaticist Anna Tramontano, member of of the MDC Scientific Advisory Board, has died. She was only 59 years old.

The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) was deeply saddened to learn of the death of the outstanding biologist Anna Tramontano on March 10, 2017, at the age of 59. Most recently Professor for Biochemistry at the Sapienza University of Rome, she had served as a highly respected member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the MDC since 2013.

Tramontano was born on July 14, 1957, in Naples, and during her studies initially pursued a degree in physics. Later she moved into the field of genetics and specialized primarily in bioinformatics. She carried out postdoctoral work in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco, then took a position as a scientist at Biosym Technologies (San Diego). Her next move took her to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, where she carried out bioinformatics research. From 1990 to 2001, Tramontano served as group leader and director of Computational Biology at the Istituto di Ricerche di Biologia Molecolare (IRBM) in Pomezia. Later positions included Pula and the University of Rome. Between 2011 and 2014 Tramontano served as a member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC). She was also deeply engaged in the development of scientific infrastructure in Kenya, Uganda, and other developing countries.

MDC Director Martin Lohse and Dr. Heike Wolke joined the head of the Supervisory Board, Ministry Director Bärbel Brumme-Bothe in a statement of appreciation for Prof. Tramontano's engagement along with deep condolences to her family. „We are grateful for the very helpful and wise support that she has given to the MDC,“ says MDC Scientific Director Martin Lohse. „We have lost a great researcher and companion.“

Featured image: Flickr - BiomedBridges CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)

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