Gynecological Endocrinology Research Unit
Coordinator
Linda Vignozzi, Associate Professor of Endocrinology
linda.vignozzi@unifi.it +390552758429
Brief Biographical sketch of the Coordinator
Born in Empoli (Florence, Italy) January 05, 1976
2001 Master Degree in Medical Science score 110 cum laude/110 - University of Florence
2006 PhD Degree in Endocrinological and Metabolic Science - University of Florence
2011 Diplomate Post-Graduate School of Endocrinology and Metabolism - University of Pisa
Member of the Scientific Board the Doctorate/PhD Program in
Biochemical Sciences
Member of the following Scientific Societies
International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH)
International Society of Sexual Medicine (ISSM)
European Academy of Andrology (ECA)
Italian Society of Endocrinology (SIE)
European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM)
Italian Society of Obesity (SIO)
Elected President of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine (SIAMS)
Member of Editorial Board of the following Journals
Journal of Sexual Medicine (Deputy Editor in Chief)
Journal of Endocrinological Investigation (Editorial Board)
Research Team
Ilaria Cellai
Sarah Cipriani
Paolo Comeglio
Sandra Filippi
Alessandra Daphne Fisher
Elisa Maseroli
Jiska Ristori
Irene Scavello
Current Research Interest
Aetiology and clinical management of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder.
Biological and psychological correlates of Vaginismus.
Effects of sex steroids and metabolic factors on sexuality and clitoral Doppler parameters.
Effects of oral contraceptives on sexuality and clitoral Doppler parameters.
Organic and psycho-relational determinants of female sexual desire and dysfunction.
Sexual and psychological symptoms in patients with eating disorders (e.g. anorexia nervosa), metabolic alterations (e.g. obesity) and history of sexual trauma.
Evaluation of sexual dysfunction associated with abuse in childhood, adolescence or adulthood.
Sexual dysfunction in menopausal women with and without a history of cancer.
Disorders of pubertal development.
Effect of the changing sex-steroid milieu on clitoris function in a rat model of ovariectomy.
Sexual Behaviour in an animal model of ovariectomized rats treated with sexual hormones.
Current/Recent Sources of Funding
Unconditioned support from TEVA for the study: “The Impact of Zoely on Metabolic and Sexual Health”
ISSWSH Research Grant for the project: “Study on the effect of systemic treatment with testosterone on clitoral haemodynamic parameters in basal conditions”
Collaborator - AIRC (Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro) “Mammographic breast density and breast cancer risk: lifestyle and hormonal biomarkers in a longitudinal study” (Year 2019/23 – cod. 23702).
10 Best Publications of the last 5 years
1: Di Stasi V, Rastrelli G, Inglese F, Beccaria M, Garuti M, Di Costanzo D, Spreafico F, Cervi G, Greco GF, Pecoriello A, Todisco T, Cipriani S, Maseroli E, Scavello I, Glingani C, Franchini M, Maggi M, De Donno G, Vignozzi L. Higher testosterone is associated with increased inflammatory markers in women with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia: preliminary results from an observational study. J Endocrinol Invest. 2021 Nov 3:1–10. doi: 10.1007/s40618-021-01682-6.
2: Scavello I, Maseroli E, Cipriani S, Di Stasi V, Verde N, Menafra D, Scannerini S, Marchiani S, Rastrelli G, Ricca V, Sorbi F, Fambrini M, Petraglia F, Maggi M, Vignozzi L. Cardiometabolic risk is unraveled by color Doppler ultrasound of the clitoral and uterine arteries in women consulting for sexual symptoms. Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 22;11(1):18899. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98336-7.
3: Cipriani S, Maseroli E, Di Stasi V, Scavello I, Todisco T, Rastrelli G, Fambrini M, Sorbi F, Petraglia F, Jannini EA, Maggi M, Vignozzi L. Effects of testosterone treatment on clitoral haemodynamics in women with sexual dysfunction. J Endocrinol Invest. 2021 Dec;44(12):2765-2776. doi:
10.1007/s40618-021-01598-1.
4: Maseroli E, Rastrelli G, Di Stasi V, Cipriani S, Scavello I, Todisco T, Gironi V, Castellini G, Ricca V, Sorbi F, Fambrini M, Petraglia F, Maggi M, Vignozzi L. Physical Activity and Female Sexual Dysfunction: A Lot Helps, But Not Too Much. J Sex Med. 2021 Jul;18(7):1217-1229. doi:
10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.04.004.
5: Di Stasi V, Maseroli E, Rastrelli G, Scavello I, Cipriani S, Todisco T, Marchiani S, Sorbi F, Fambrini M, Petraglia F, Maggi M, Vignozzi L. SHBG as a Marker of NAFLD and Metabolic Impairments in Women Referred for Oligomenorrhea and/or Hirsutism and in Women With Sexual Dysfunction. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021 Mar 29;12:641446. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2021.641446.
6: Parish SJ, Simon JA, Davis SR, Giraldi A, Goldstein I, Goldstein SW, Kim NN, Kingsberg SA, Morgentaler A, Nappi RE, Park K, Stuenkel CA, Traish AM, Vignozzi L. International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health Clinical Practice Guideline for the Use of Systemic Testosterone for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women. J Sex Med. 2021 May;18(5):849-867. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.10.009.
7: Cellai I, Di Stasi V, Comeglio P, Maseroli E, Todisco T, Corno C, Filippi S, Cipriani S, Sorbi F, Fambrini M, Petraglia F, Scavello I, Rastrelli G, Acciai G, Villanelli F, Danza G, Sarchielli E, Guarnieri G, Morelli A, Maggi M, Vignozzi L. Insight on the Intracrinology of Menopause: Androgen Production within the Human Vagina. Endocrinology. 2021 Feb 1;162(2):bqaa219. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqaa219. PMID: 33247714.
8: Maseroli E, Cellai I, Filippi S, Comeglio P, Cipriani S, Rastrelli G, Rosi M, Sorbi F, Fambrini M, Petraglia F, Amoriello R, Ballerini C, Lombardelli L, Piccinni MP, Sarchielli E, Guarnieri G, Morelli A, Maggi M, Vignozzi L. Anti-inflammatory effects of androgens in the human vagina. J Mol Endocrinol. 2020 Oct;65(3):109-124. doi: 10.1530/JME-20-0147.
9: Marchiani S, Tamburrino L, Benini F, Pallecchi M, Bignozzi C, Conforti A, Alviggi C, Vignozzi L, Danza G, Pellegrini S, Baldi E. LH supplementation of ovarian stimulation protocols influences follicular fluid steroid composition contributing to the improvement of ovarian response in poor responder women. Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 31;10(1):12907. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-69325-z.
10: Maseroli E, Santangelo A, Lara-Fontes B, Quintana GR, Mac Cionnaith CE, Casarrubea M, Ricca V, Maggi M, Vignozzi L, Pfaus JG. The non-aromatizable androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) facilitates sexual behavior in ovariectomized female rats primed with estradiol. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2020 May;115:104606. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104606.
Previous Research Experiences
2001-2002: Fellow Researcher Assistant at the Dept. of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Florence, Italy
2002: Researcher Assistant at Dept. Clinical Physiopathology, University of Florence, Italy
2003-2005: PhD student at Dept. Clinical Physiopathology, University of Florence, Italy
2006 fellow recipient of a special research grant from BioXell, Milan, Italy
2006-2009: student at the post-graduated school of Endocrinology and Metabolic disease, University of Florence, Italy
2003-to date: Teacher at the Course of Sexual Medicine, University of Florence, Italy.
2011-to date: Teacher at the Postgraduate School of Endocrinology and Metabolism- University of Florence, Italy
2015-to date: Associate Professor of Endocrinology at the School of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Florence, Italy
2015-to date: Co-Coordinator of II level Master Degree Course of “Andrology and Sexual Medicine“, University of Florence, Italy
2018-to date: Director of the Andrology, Women’s Endocrinology and Gender Incongruence Unit at Careggi Hospital, Florence, Italy
2019-to date: Co-Coordinator of II level Master Degree Course of “Biology and technologies for reproduction“ at the University of Florence, Italy
2019-to date: Principal Coordinator of I level Master Degree Course of “ Gender Incongruence”, University of Florence, Italy
Main Scientific Contributions
Studio Osservazionale per la valutazione dell’effetto della terapia ormonale anticoncezionale sulla sessualità, sull’immagine corporea e sulla salute mentale della donna (Prot. N 2015/0001006, OSS. 14.171).
Studio esplorativo per la valutazione della relazione tra funzione sessuale femminile e parametri organici ed intrapsichici (Prot. N. 37589, SPE13.034).
Oral Contraceptive Therapy and Sexuality (COSEX) NCT02450188.
Ultrasound and Psychobiological Correlates of Female Sexual Function NCT02372643.
Dysthyroidism and Female Sexual Function NCT03093285.
Osservatorio nazionale ovaio policistico e sindrome da eccesso di androgeni – Club SIE "Endocrinologia della donna" (Prot. number #16615/oss).
Il rischio di tromboembolismo venoso nelle donne affette da sindrome dell'ovaio policistico (PCOS-VTE) promosso dall'Università di Padova.
Studio pilota per la valutazione delle correlazioni tra le alterazioni dei flussi arteriosi ovarici e uterini e la Sindrome Metabolica nelle pazienti con Sindrome dell'Ovaio Policistico (PCOSFLOWMETS; Prot. number #12811/oss).
Studio sull'effetto immunomodulante del Diidrotestosterone (DHT) su cellule muscolari lisce umane di vagina (HUMVAGDHT; Prot. number # 12903/bio).
Studio pilota retrospettivo sull'effetto del Testosterone nella modulazione dei flussi vascolari clitoridei (TESTOFSD; Prot. number # 14457/oss).
Studio pilota per la valutazione della resistenza vascolare clitoridea in pazienti con disfunzione sessuale in relazione al rischio cardiovascolare (CARDIOSEX; Prot. number # 13938/oss ).
Collaborations
International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (President Prof. I. Goldstein)
Gynecology and Obstetrics Unit, University of Florence and Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (Prof. M. Fambrini, Dr. F. Sorbi)
Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health (NEUROFARBA), University of Florence (Prof. V. Ricca, Prof. G. Castellini)
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Forensic Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy (Prof. A. Morelli)
Radiotherapy Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Careggi, University of Florence (Prof. L. Livi)
Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy (Prof. E. A. Jannini)
“Osservatorio Nazionale Ovaio Policistico e Sindrome da Eccesso di Androgeni” - Club SIE “Endocrinologia della Donna” (Italian Society of Endocrinology) – Prof. P. Moghetti, Prof. C. Moretti
Ultimo aggiornamento
17.05.2022