Alessandro Piaia

ESTP Congress
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Alessandro Piaia, DVM, Dipl. ECVP
Director, Preclinical Safety, Novartis

Alessandro Piaia is a veterinary and toxicological pathologist with extensive experience in pharmaceutical drug development and nonclinical safety assessment. He is currently Director in Preclinical Safety at Novartis, where he supports the pathology evaluation of drug candidates across different stages of nonclinical development and contributes to the interpretation of safety findings in the context of human risk assessment.

Alessandro earned his veterinary degree from the University of Parma, Italy, and is a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Pathologists. His work has supported programs across a range of therapeutic areas and modalities, including immunomodulation, gene therapy, oncology, and respiratory disease. Through these activities, he has developed broad experience in the assessment of toxicologic pathology findings, their biological significance, and their relevance to decision-making in drug development.

His main areas of scientific expertise include respiratory, endocrine, and reproductive system pathology. Alessandro has contributed to expert activities in respiratory pathology, including work related to lung pathology in nonhuman primates. He is also a member of the INHAND harmonization group for female reproductive tissues, supporting international efforts to harmonize diagnostic terminology and criteria for reproductive pathology findings in nonclinical studies.

Alessandro also has experience in digital pathology and AI-based image analysis, with an interest in how these technologies can support toxicologic pathology workflows, data interpretation, and future approaches to nonclinical safety assessment. Across his work, he brings together pathology expertise, therapeutic area knowledge, and collaborative scientific judgment to support high-quality safety assessment and informed drug development decisions.