Lorenzo A. Pinna received his B. Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Padova in 1962. From 1965-66 he was postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Physiological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, USA. In 1975 he was appointed Professor of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry and in 1988 Director of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Padova. A pioneer in the field of CK2 research, his research interests encompass various aspects of protein phosphorylation, with special reference to the design of synthetic peptide substrates for the specific monitoring of protein kinases and the assessment of the biological role and pathogenic potential of protein kinase CK2.