Dr. Matteo Baggiani obtained a PhD at the University of Pisa. His educational experience includes a PhD in Biology, excellent cum laude, and a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Pisa, from 2018 to 2022. His scientific career includes Postdoctoral Research at the IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation from February 2023 to the present date. His major research interests lie in investigations in Cell Culture and immunofluorescence. In addition, he is renowned in the field of research and has served as a member of the IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation.
Dr. Stefania Della Vecchia graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Pisa, with a thesis on the phenotypic characterization of a mouse model with NGF mutation (HSANV) at the Scuola Normale Superiore. Subsequently, she obtained a specialization in Child Neuropsychiatry at the University of Pisa, with a thesis focused on a new zebrafish model of Lafora disease at the Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Neurobiology of the IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation. Here, she acquired, in parallel, extensive training in childhood neurological disorders and behavior, biochemical analysis, and pharmacological screening in animal models. Her research activities are currently focused on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying rare and still incurable neurodegenerative diseases, such as Lafora's, with the aim of testing and identifying new therapeutic molecules.
Dr. Valentina Naef graduated in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Pisa. She subsequently obtained her Ph.D. in Biology, during which she gained experience in generating knockout animal models to study the mechanisms underlying brain aging and neurodegeneration. She currently carries out her research activities at the Molecular Medicine and Neurobiology laboratory of the IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, where she studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying rare and still incurable neurological diseases, such as autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay, in order to test and identify new therapeutic molecules.
Dr. Filippo Maria Santorelli graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1988 and subsequently specialized in Neurology. He also obtained a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Neurophysiology, and Neurorehabilitation at the Clinical Institute of Nervous and Mental Diseases of La Sapienza University of Rome in 2000. From 2000 to 2009, he was responsible for the Molecular Genetics and Molecular Medicine Unit at the IRCCS-Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome. Since 2010, he has directed the UOC of Molecular Medicine for Neurodegenerative and Neuromuscular Diseases of the IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation-University of Pisa. He deals with basic and clinically applied research in the field of molecular genetics of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular those with pediatric-onset. He has led and collaborated on several clinical research projects on neuromuscular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Filippo Maria Santorelli is Director of the Complex Operational Unit of Molecular Medicine, Neurogenetics, and Neuromuscular Diseases at the IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation and is a researcher who is well-known on the international scene for his studies applied to the clinic in the field of molecular genetics, in particular, mitochondrial, muscular and neurodegenerative pathologies. He is the author of numerous printed articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings in the fields of neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases and their genetic determinants.
