He was a pioneer of histology and is credited with the coining of the term platelets and identifying their function in coagulation.

Bizzozero was born in Varese, Lombardy, at the time part of the Austrian Empire, to Felice and Carolina Veratti.

The family were involved in the Risorgimento, an older brother Cesare fought against Austria while Carolina served as a volunteer nurse.

After high school, he studied medicine at the University of Pavia, where he performed histological and histopathological research under the guidance of Paolo Mantegazza (1831-1910) and the microscopist Eusebio Oehl.

He is known for his early description of Helicobacter pylori (1892), the bacteria that is responsible for peptic ulcer disease (although this fact was not generally accepted until the 1990s).