Marco Mainardi

Marco Mainardi is an Associate Professor of Physiology at University of Padua.

 

His training in biological research started with a master’s degree in molecular biology at University of Pisa (2006), where he also received an Honors degree in Biology after completing the graduate course at Scuola Normale Superiore. Then, he received his PhD Neuroscience, still from Scuola Normale Superiore (2010), after working under the supervision of prof.s Lamberto Maffei, Matteo Caleo, and Tommaso Pizzorusso on the effect of environmental stimuli on synaptic plasticity, using in vivo electrophysiology, imaging, and biochemistry. He then continued to explore these topics with a postdoc at the Neuroscience Institute of the National Research Council. In 2014, he moved to the Physiology Institute of Catholic University in Rome with an assistant professor position. While getting proficient in patch-clamp electrophysiology and coimmunoprecipitation techniques, he contributed to elucidate the effect of metabolic stressors, such as a hyperlipidic diet, in curbing synaptic plasticity. In 2017, Marco moved back to Scuola Normale Superiore, where he became assistant professor in Antonino Cattaneo’s lab, where he was introduced to the design and validation of genetically encoded tools for synapse labeling and analysis, which he used to create maps of in vivo synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, as well as to analyze the variations in the molecular composition of synapses in response to learning. In 2019, Marco obtained his first independent position as a researcher of the Neuroscience Institute of the National Research Council, where he was promoted senior investigator before moving to University of Padua in 2023.

 

Marco’s current research interests are focused on understanding how synapses are affected by physiological variations in sensory inputs as well as by pathological states, including Alzheimer’s disease and neuroinflammation. To answer his scientific questions, he employs a combination of genetically encoded reporters and probes, behavioral testing, electrophysiology, imaging, and biochemistry in preclinical models. His research is supported by grants from the Ministry of University and Research, as well as from private charities, such as AirAlzh (Italian Association for Research on Alzheimer’s).

 

Marco’s ultimate goal as a researcher is to make contributions which can be truly useful to ameliorating the condition of diseased people, by exploiting basic research to indicate new potential targets for the therapy of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases.

 

Scopus link: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=26424686300
Google Scholar link: https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=hkEBXloAAAAJ&hl=it

Stefano Vassanelli

Stefano Vassanelli is Associate professor of Physiology
Lecturer at the Medical, Bioengineering, Pharmacological Sciences and Galilean schools.

 

Biosketch

Stefano Vassanelli graduated cum Laude in Medicine at the University of Padova and his doctoral thesis was awarded with the “Casati” price from the “Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei”. After completing a PhD in molecular biology and pathology he undertook postdoctoral research first at the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology, Dpt. of Biochemistry, (Portland. Oregon, USA), and then at the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Dpt. Membrane and Neurophysics (Martinsried, Germany) working on brain-chip interfaces for high-resolution recording of neuronal networks. Since 2001 he is leading the Neurochip laboratory at the University of Padova with main focus on development of high-density neural interfaces and their use for investigation of information processing mechanisms in brain microcircuits.

 

Contact

Deparment of Biomedical Sciences
University of Padova
via Marzolo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy
Tel.: +39 049 8275337
Fax.: +39 049 8275301
Email: stefano.vassanelli@unipd.it
Web site: www.vassanellilab.eu

Tito Calì

Tito Calì is Full Professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova.

 

2017: Assistant Professor, (RTDB) Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova.

2015-2016: Assistant Professor, (RTDA) Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova.

2013-2015: Senior Research Associate, University of Padova.

2009-2013: Junior Research Associate, University of Padova.

2008: PhD Degree “in signi cum laude”, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Theodor Kocher institute, University of Bern (CH) and Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), Bellinzona (CH).

2005: Doctor in Biological Sciences 110/110 “Cum Laude”, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, University of L’Aquila and Centre d’Immunologie Marseille Luminy (CIML).

 

Selected Publications

Calì T, et al. The ataxia related G1107D mutation of the plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase isoform 3 affects its interplay with calmodulin and the autoinhibition process. BBA. 2017

Calì T, et al. A new split-GFP-based probe reveals DJ-1 translocation into the mitochondrial matrix to sustain ATP synthesis upon nutrient deprivation. HMG. 2015.

Calì T, et al. A Novel Mutation in Isoform 3 of the Plasma Membrane Ca2+ Pump Impairs Cellular Ca2+ Homeostasis in a Patient with Cerebellar Ataxia and Laminin Subunit 1? Mutations. JBC 2015.

Calì T, et al. Enhanced parkin levels favor ER-mitochondria crosstalk and guarantee Ca2+ transfer to sustain cell bioenergetics. BBA. 2013

Calì T, et al. ?-Synuclein controls mitochondrial calcium homeostasis by enhancing endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria interactions. JBC. 2012

Zanni G, Calì T, et al. Mutation of plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase isoform 3 in a family with X-linked congenital cerebellar ataxia impairs Ca2+ homeostasis. PNAS. 2012

Marco Dal Maschio

Marco Dal Maschio is Associate Professor of Physiology, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Padua.

 

Bio sketch
He obtained the degree in Physics at the University of Padova in 2002. After completing a PhD in Biotechnologies, he undertook postdoctoral research first at the Italian Institute of Technology, Dept. Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, (Genua, Italy), and then at the Max-Planck Institute for Neurobiology, Dept. Genes-Circuits-Behavior (Martinsried, Germany).

 

Research Interests
Is it possible to link neuronal activity to functional architectures supporting behavior? A growing toolbox of experimental and analysis methods allows to start addressing these questions in awake or even freely behaving animal models. We can take advantage of optical and electrical approaches to simultaneously record and modulate the activity in large portions of the brain or in a target circuit down to single cell resolution during a sensory experience or a behavior task. From the analysis of these datasets, we can distill mathematical models of the circuit, testable directly on a living preparation, to reconstruct the role of the different circuit components on the activity and on the behavior recorded. With the development of this kind of investigation framework, my research aims to: 1. gain basic insights on the mechanistic organization of the brain circuits involved in behavior control and sensorimotor transformations; 2. characterize altered network dynamics associated with pathological conditions.

 

Publications
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=650669295

 

Contacts
Department of Biomedical Sciences
University of Padua
Email: marco.dalmaschio@unipd.it

Claudia Cecchetto

Dr. Claudia Cecchetto is Junior Researcher (RTDA) at the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Padova, working in the Neurochip Lab (Prof. Stefano Vassanelli’s group).

 

She is currently working on her PNRR-MSCA project NEU-PAGES and curates also the management of Vassanelli’s H2020-EU projects SYNCH and NEUREKA. Her main research interests include in vivo electrophysiology, two-photon microscopy and high-resolution implantable electrical probes applied to the study of neuronal networks in the brain, particularly in the somatosensory area.

 

In December 2022, she got a PNRR-MSCA research grant funded by EU and the Italian Ministry of Research, with a project called NEU-PAGES. The aim of this 3-years project is to combine in vivo two-photon calcium and VSD imaging with implantable neuroprobes to study how whisker deflections are encoded into the barrel cortex of mice and how a local cortical network can be tuned by electrical stimuli delivered through the neuroprobe. Specifically, the various neuronal patterns evoked in the cortex by sensory and electrical stimuli will be analysed, classified, and compared using tailored machine learning methods.

 

From 2018 to 2020, she spent 2 years at OIST Graduate University (Okinawa, Japan) in Bernd Kuhn’s Optical Neuroimaging Unit, where she learnt in vivo two-photon imaging using AAV sensors and Voltage Sensitive Dyes. There, she completed her MSCA project GRACE, whose main aim was the simultaneous recording of two-photon imaging and high-resolution local field potentials from the mouse barrel cortex in response to whisker stimulations.

 

She graduated in Physics in Padova, and she obtained her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Department of Information Engineering in Padova, with a thesis on neuronal population encoding of sensory information in the rat barrel cortex studied through an innovative high-resolution brain-chip interface.

 

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Claudia-Cecchetto

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-cecchetto-32739171/

Alessandro Bertoli

Alessandro Bertoli is Associate Professor at the Dept. of Biomedical Science.

 

EDUCATION & RESEARCH ACTIVITY

Prof. Alessandro Bertoli got a degree in Physics at the University of Genova (Italy) in 1994 and a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Padova (Italy) in 2000. At the beginning, his scientific activity, was addressed to the electrophysiological characterization of mammalian CNS and mitochondrial ion channels ion channels. From 2000 to 2002 he had a post-doctoral at the Pharmacological Research Institute “Mario Negri” (Milano, Italy). During this period, he had the possibility to lead a research unit involved in the study of the molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. In 2002, he moved back to the Dept. of Biological Chemistry (presently, Dept. of Biomedical Sciences) at the University of Padova, where he currently holds a position as Associate Professor.

 

In recent years, Prof. Bertoli has been involved in different research projects on the prion protein (PrP) and prions, the infectious neurotoxic agents derived from PrP misfolding. Very recently, the scientific interest of Dr. Bertoli moved to the pathogenic mechanisms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with particular emphasis to the involvement of Ca2+ de-regulation and ER and mitochondrial dysfunctions in disease onset.

 

Prof. Bertoli is co-author of several research articles published on peer-reviewed international journals (http://www.biomed.unipd.it/people/bertoli-alessandro/) and contributed to national and international scientific conferences. He is Review Editor for Frontiers in Neuroscience, and also served as Reviewer for different journals.

Aram Megighian

Aram Megighian is Associate Professor in Physiology (DSB, University of Padua)

 

Academic Career

1988 MD degree (University of Padua)
1992 Residency in Neurology (University of Padua)
1996-1997 Research Scientist Dep of Biology (San Diego State University, USA)
1992-2010 Assistant Professor in Physiology
1997- Adjunct Professor Dep of Biology (San Diego State University, USA)
2010- Associate Professor in Physiology (DBS, University of Padua)

 

Research interest

Nervous system function is dedicated to translate, generate and process informations in a binary code based on neuronal electrical response: action potential.
These binary coded informations are exchanged from one neuron to the other connected by synapses in both simple and complex circuits. Eventually these informations are processed generating behavior, i.e. the “total movements made by the intact animal” (Tinbergen, 1955) or  “the internally coordinated responses (actions or inactions) of whole organisms (individuals or groups) to internal and/or external stimuli, excluding responses more easily understood as developmental changes” (Levitis et al. 2009)

 

The aim of our research is to understand:

  • how neuronal informations are transferred from one neuron to the other by synaptic activity
  • how synaptic activity processes and modifies neuronal informations trasnferred from one neuron to the other
  • how synaptic activity could regulate information processing of complex circuits like those involved the higher or elaborated brain functions regulating behavior.
  • the evolutive maintained nervous circuits regulating adaptative behaviors sharing similar cognitive processes.

 

To reach this aim we utilize as animal model the fruitfly, in which

  • it is possible to genetically modify the main actors of the evolutionarily maintained molecular nanomachine regulating synaptic activity
  • analyse the electrical response of a single synapse or a simple nervous circuit
  • analyse different elaborated behaviors generated by the activity of complex neuronal circuits.