Dr. Gambetti received his BA from Liceo Classico Imola (Bologna) Italy Maturita, and his MD Magna Cum Laude, Humanities, University of Bologna, School of Medicine, 1959. In 1961 he completed his residency in Neurology, Neurological Hospital of the University of Bologna School of Medicine. In 1969, Dr Gambetti completed fellowships in Neuropathology, Institut Bunge, Antwerp Belgium; Institute of Pathology, University of Rome; Department of Pathology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He remained with the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine until 1977, when Dr. Gambetti then joined Division of Neuropathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center. Currently he is a Professor and Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center.

The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (NPDPSC) was established in 1997 at the Division of Neuropathology of Case Western Reserve University. Several European countries also have established surveillance centers to monitor the occurrence of prion diseases, or spongiform encephalopathies, in response to the epidemic of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as “mad cow disease,” which occurred in the United Kingdom during the 1980s.