The Rector
The Rector is responsible for the teaching and scientific activities carried out at the School, and for the activities of the teaching and research staff.
The Rector is appointed by the Board of Directors of BF S.p.A. from among full professors, holds legal representation of IASA, including in legal proceedings, and serves a six-year term.
Current Rector
Professor Cocconcelli was appointed Rector of IASA on 28 May 2026. He is Full Professor of Food Microbiology and previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
From 2011 to 2024, he held senior academic leadership positions at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, first as the Rector’s Delegate and subsequently as Vice-Rector for the coordination of internationalisation projects, before being appointed Deputy Rector. Since 2023, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Vatican Foundation Gravissimum Educationis, part of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Since 2003, he has served as a scientific expert for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the field of microbiological risk assessment of food and of microorganisms intentionally introduced into the food chain. His specific areas of expertise include antimicrobial resistance and genetic modification techniques applied to microorganisms used in the agri-food sector.
His research focuses on agri-food microbiology, with particular emphasis on the application of omics sciences to food safety, ranging from food fermentation and the biotechnological use of microorganisms to antimicrobial resistance in the food chain and the use of microorganisms in agriculture.
He is a member of the International Advisory Board of IATA in Valencia, the Food Technology Research Institute of the Spanish National Research Council, and serves as a scientific expert at the Centre for Food Safety of Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
He is the author of more than 800 scientific publications in indexed journals, including EFSA scientific opinions on food risk assessment (Scopus Author ID: 35606221300). He is included in Stanford University’s World’s Top 2% Scientists ranking.
