Tullio Pozzan

Abstract

Abstract Portrait of Tullio Pozzan, a man with white hair and blue eyes, wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and patterned dark blue tie, looking forward with a slight smile. Below the portrait is his handwritten signature. Tullio Pozzan was a pioneer at the forefront of cell physiology for over 40 years, whose development of powerful new experimental methods profoundly increased our understanding of fundamental cellular processes. His seminal discovery in 1992 of mitochondrial calcium uptake to physiological levels of stimulation transformed our understanding of cell signalling. His work established the organelle as a central hub both in shaping cytosolic calcium signals and in orchestrating critical cell responses, such as energy production and cell death. Pozzan, working at the University of Padua for most of his career, was a polymath, making important and incisive contributions across a range of topics. These included the application of the first fluorescent intracellular calcium indicator dyes, the concept of synergy between second messenger pathways, the first fluorescent probes for measuring cytosolic pH and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), the resurrection of mitochondria as indispensable components of physiological calcium signalling and the importance of local calcium signals in information transfer between organelles. Shortly before his unexpected death, Tullio opened fresh terrain into the patho-physiology of Alzheimer's disease and was developing new tools for measuring mitochondrial calcium in vivo. He was a captivating and thought-provoking speaker and an erudite writer of insightful reviews.