Marco Bernardi

Marco Bernardi is Professor of Exercise and Sport Sciences at the “Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine” of “Sapienza”, University of Rome, where he graduated in Medicine and Surgery (1987), has specialized in Sports Medicine (1991) and has been working since 1990. In “Sapienza” he is currently Delegate of the Magnificent Rector Antonella Polimeni, for Sport in Persons with Disabilities and Deputy Director of the School of Specialization in Sports and Exercise Medicine of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, “Vittorio Erspamer”.

He has taught at Sapienza University Human Physiology and Exercise Physiology since the early nineties and besides these topics he currently teaches motor sciences, cardiology and sports cardiology.

He is author of more than 270 papers including “in extenso” publications, congress communications and book chapters on the themes of neuromuscular and exercise physiology, rehabilitation and sports medicine. His main research fields are: adjustments and adaptations to exercise and sport and functional assessment of able-bodied and special populations (including athletes with and without impairments and the elderly).

Since the end of the 1990s and up to 2016 he has collaborated with the Italian Paralympic Committee (former Italian Federation of Sport for people with a disability), having held the roles of President of the Medical Commission, Head of the Health and Visits for Paralympic Sports, Scientific Director, President of the Anti-Doping Commission and, during the 10 Paralympic Games from 1998 (Nagano) to 2016 (Rio de Janeiro), Team Doctor, “Chief Medical Officer”, Responsible for Classification or Responsible for Anti-doping.

It is part of numerous national and international commissions for the development of guidelines on issues related to Sport Cardiology (in particular on the suitability to competitive sport in athletes with different types of impairments) and to the prescription of physical exercise for healthy purposes in different populations including people with spinal cord injury. He works as scientific consultant for the Ministry of Health, the Italian Federation of Physicians of General Medicine (General Practitioners) and various Paralympic Sports Federations.