It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Professor Carlo Ballatore, a visionary medicinal chemist who devoted his career to developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. Ballatore passed away unexpectedly on April 2 in Big Sur, California, at the age of 54.
As head of the Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ballatore helped shape the school’s research strategy and solidify its reputation for scientific excellence that led to its top 10 research funding ranking. In his own laboratory, he devoted his career to designing innovative drugs for difficult-to-treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. This work, driven by his firm advocacy for the therapeutic potential of microtubule-stabilizing small molecules, led to a compound now advancing through preclinical studies, a development he viewed with great hope and optimism for its potential.
Ballatore’s research efforts also produced small molecules that tackle parasitic infections, cancer and an increasingly prevalent liver disorder, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Beyond applied research, Ballatore was a globally recognized expert in bioisosterism, a medicinal chemistry strategy that involves the replacement of chemical scaffolds to improve the properties of biologically active compounds, and his highly-cited publications continue to significantly influence drug discovery.
In addition to his passion for drug design, Ballatore helped foster the next generation of scientists, serving as a mentor to numerous postdoctoral researchers and graduate, undergraduate and high school students. He regularly hosted visiting scholars and postdocs in his lab from countries around the world. At the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences he taught courses on pharmacology and drug development, captivating students with his passion for medicinal chemistry and inspiring many to pursue rotations or undergraduate research opportunities.
Prior to joining UC San Diego in 2016, Ballatore was a research associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania where he worked under the tutelage of Amos B. Smith III, Ph.D., a preeminent natural product chemist. Before this role, he worked as a research scientist at two biotech companies, NewBiotecs and Acidophil, where he contributed to research on cancer and infectious diseases.
Ballatore obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in medicinal chemistry at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (1995) and a doctorate in medicinal chemistry at Cardiff University (2001) in the United Kingdom. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in medicinal chemistry at MD Anderson Cancer Center (2002) in Houston, Texas.
Ballatore will always be remembered for his bright and compassionate leadership, exemplary science and his extraordinary kindness. His legacy will live on through the students he mentored, the science he advanced and the many lives he changed.
Ballatore is survived by his mother Paola; his wife Juliana; children, Isabella and Paolo; sister Benedetta; brother-in-law Roy; and his nieces Camilla and Livia.
