Luigi Naldini (born 1959 in Turin) is an Italian gene therapist, professor of cell and tissue biology and of gene and cell therapy at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, and the director of San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan, Italy. Often considered as "the father of the lentivirus gene therapy",[1] he is globally known as the pioneer of "the development and applications of lentiviral vectors for gene transfer" that allowed the gene therapy treatment of several genetic diseases.[2][3][4] He is also a scientific co-founder of three biotech start-up companies, Genenta in Milan and New York,[1] Chroma Medicine in Milan and Boston,[3] Genespire in Milan.[5][6] He is also the former president of European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT)[7] and an elected member of European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).[6] In 2019, he was awarded Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine "for taking gene therapy from the bench to the bedside".[8]