VITTORIO VENTAFRIDDA was born in the northern Italian city of Udine, graduated at Pavia’s Medical University in 1952 he spent four years in the U.S.A. where he did his internship and then took up a residency training as an anesthesiologist at the Research and Educational Hospital of the University of Illinois in Chicago. Back in Milan he was in charge of the anesthesiology dept. at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori and later he was appointed Director of the Palliative Care Unit. In the early 70’s in Seattle, he was one of the founders of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). In the year 1977 professor Ventafridda together with Virgilio Floriani founded the Floriani Foundation, and took the position of Scientific Director. The purpose of the Foundation is to assist and help terminally ill patients,
In the 80’s, with the help of Floriani Foundation he launched a program for the continuing care at home of the terminally ill patients which expanded to 14 other Institutions and became a point of reference for WHO’s Cancer Pain Relief Program. One of the things he is most proud of is having been one of the principal authors of WHO’s analgesic ladder on cancer pain management which has been translated into more than 28 languages and it is applied worldwide.
Most of Prof. Ventafridda’s activities were then focused on the promotion of palliative care throughout Europe. In pursuit of this he founded and directed the Italian and European Association as well as a school on Palliative Care. Prof. Ventafridda is the author of more than 250 publications mostly on pain control, quality of life measurements and palliative care. He is also an active member of 3 International Scientific Societies, 10 Editorial Boards and co- editor of 4 important books.
He is presently:
- Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre in Cancer Control and Palliative Care at the European Institute of Oncology of Milan
- Fellow of Royal College of Phisician
- Honorary President of the European Association for Palliative Care
- Scientific Director of the Floriani Foundation
- President of the Italian School for Palliative Medicine
