Dr. Valerio Di Nicola

Valerio Di Nicola, M.D., Ph.D., FRCS is a Consultant in General, Emergency, and Lower Gastrointestinal Surgery at Worthing Hospital and Clinical Leader of the Day Surgery at Southlands Hospital, both of Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Alongside his clinical activity, he has been involved in the last 20 years in Regenerative Medicine research. He developed a minimally invasive surgical procedure based on a new biomaterial Gel Repairer able to stimulate local MSCs for the treatment of the degenerative osteoarthritis (OA).

Val was born in Rome and graduated in Medicine in 1989. From 1989 until 1997 he worked at the Sapienza University – Policlinico Umberto I di Roma first as Specialty Trainee (ST) during his General Surgery Specialization and then, during his Ph.D. in Microsurgery, he worked as Researcher and Academic. Specifically, he researched Connective Tissue Regeneration activating residential MSCs through jellified nucleotides, HSPs (Heat Shock Proteins), and Growth Factors (GFs). He earned his Ph.D. in Microsurgery at “La Sapienza” University of Rome in 1999.

He then improved his skills in laparoscopic and minimally invasive procedures and increased his knowledge in coloproctology with a Fellowship in Oncological Colorectal Minimally Invasive and Open Surgery. Later he achieved his Master’s in the same field at the University “La Sapienza” of Rome.

From 2006 to January 2010, he was Head of the General Surgery Department at San Marco Hospital in Latina, Italy. He then became Consultant of the General Surgery Department at the Israelite Hospital of Rome.

In November of 2010 and until June 2013, Val worked as Consultant at the General Surgery and Emergency Trauma Department (DEAI) of the Aurelia Hospital in Rome. In May 2013, he was appointed the Scientific Director of Interbion Foundation for Basic Biomedical Research, Montedato, Switzerland.

In July 2013 until October 2017, he worked at Noble’s Hospital – Isle of Man (UK), in the General Surgery Department, as a Consultant in General and Colorectal Surgery, and as a Core member of the Colorectal and Upper-GI MDTs. He has been the Coordinator for the Surgical Education for Noble’s junior Doctors and was appointed Lead of the Paediatric Surgery of the Noble’s Hospital – Isle of Man in December 2015.

On July 2017, he was appointed Consultant in General, Emergency, and Lower Gastrointestinal Surgery at Worthing Hospital, and on February 2018 he was awarded the Clinical Leadership of the Day Surgery at the Southlands Hospital both of Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

His studies in “joint self-repair” and its biological baseline have been presented at numerous prestigious international conferences. Three articles have recently been published in Current Ageing Science entitled Self-Repair in Degenerative Joint Disease (2012), Biological Baseline of Joint Self-Repair Procedures (2013), and MRI in Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD): A Proposal for Imaging Standardization in Regenerative Medicine. SM Musculoskelet Disord (2016).

He is the author of 50 publications. He also holds the patent Composition comprising a haematic component and its use for the treatment of degenerative joint disease.

His study Self-Repair in Degenerative Joint Disease presents a method for treating and structurally improving articulations affected by Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD). Currently the pharmacological treatment of DJD is palliative. It has toxicity and side effects. Patients that can be operated conclude their trial with a prosthesis followed by a long rehabilitation period. This study suggests a new methodological approach and treatment of DJD based on tissue regeneration and restoration resulting in clinical resolution.

Listen to Val and James Strole chat about a minimally invasive joint regeneration treatment presented at RAADfest.

Visit his NHS profile, RAADfest profile, Scholarly Pages, and Publons profile. Follow him on his site Gel Repairer.