ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5522-9257
Angela Marie Abbatecola is Associate Professor in Internal Medicine (SSD MED/05) at “Link Campus University” since november 2024.
Prof. Abbatecola is a physician specializing in Geriatrics. In 2000 she graduated with Honors in Medicine; in 2005 she attaine a specialization in Geriatrics and in 2009 she completed her PhD at the "Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli". In 2018, she attained the qualification of Associate Professor in "Internal Medicine", conferred by M.I.U.R. (Ministry of Education, University and Research).
Prof. Abbatecola attended the Department of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Metabolic Diseases at the "Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli" from 2001 to 2009 focusing on the analysis of the effects of ageing on glycolipid metabolism, chronic inflammation, frailty syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cognitive decline. In particular, she discovered particular correlations between cognitive abilities and glycaemic alterations.
She developed several observational and longitudinal studies evaluating the correlations between various markers of inflammation, insulin resistance and cognitive decline. She worked at the National Institute of Aging (NIA) - National Institute of Health (NIH) in Baltimore, MD (USA) studying the impact of frailty syndrome on outcomes in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging and the InCHIANTI study.
She collaborated with the Health ABC study (Bethesda, MD, USA) evaluating the impact of pulse wave velocity in muscle tissue changes. From 2012 to 2014, she was Co-Investigator of the DIMORA study, in collaboration with the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics (SIGG), exploring the use of antidiabetic agents in Italian elderly people admitted in Nursing homes (RSA).
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, she was a member of the Governing Board of the GeroCovid study, a multi-setting, multi-objective, multicentre investigation, promoted by the Campus Biomedico (Rome) and SIGG (Florence), with the aim of investigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the health of the elderly in different healthcare settings. Furthermore, she is a member of the scientific committee of the GeroVax study, initiated by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, SIGG and AIFA at the start of the anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign in 2021 to assess the efficacy, safety and durability of the vaccine in frail elderly residents in Italian RSAs.
She is the main investigator of the multi-centre ValoreUtile study, started in 2024 and promoted by the ASL of Frosinone in collaboration with the University of Cassino and Lazio Meridionale, the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" and the University of Ancona, to evaluate the combined treatment of non-pharmacological therapy (cognitive stimulation and adapted motor activity) in patients with mild/moderate dementia who regularly attend Alzheimer's day centres.
Her main research interests include the exploration of mechanisms related to changes in cognitive decline and behavioural disorders in elderly patients with dementia. Furthermore, her research activity includes any potential physical performance interventions in delaying age-related muscle decline in common chronic diseases of the elderly.
She authored more than 80 publications in international indexed scientific journals, with an H-index of 40 (Scopus).
Curriculum Vitae OFFICE HOURS
The professor is available to receive the students at the end of the lessons. However, the students may also request an appointment by email.