Obituary-Dr. Pia Bernasconi

We were saddened to learn that one of our board members Dr. Pia Bernasconi recently passed away. Dr Pia Bernasconi was Head of the Molecular and Cellular Immunopathology Laboratory of Neurology IV - Neuroimmunology and Neuromuscular Diseases Unit at the Foundation IRCCS Neurological Institute Carlo Besta in Milan, Italy. She had a long-standing internationally recognized expertise in the research field of neuromuscular and autoimmune diseases, with a wide experience in molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics. She was an enthusiastic scientist with a great passion for research, whose studies significantly contributed to the understanding of immunological alterations underlying autoimmunity, providing new insights for deciphering the pathogenic link between innate and adaptive immunity in myasthenia gravis and different forms of myopathies, especially laminopathies and dystrophinopathies. Her scientific activity was also focused on motor neuron diseases, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, leading to disclose a key role of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of these disorders.

We offer our condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues.

Dr. Alexander E. Kalyuzhny
Editor-in-Chief of Cells