Present Institution:

Italian Institute of Technology

Location:

Genoa IT

Career Status:

Postdoctoral / Fellowship

Bio

I am a biologist who has always been passionate about neuroscience
who happened to encounter electrophysiology - and fell in love with it. I have done my PhD in Molecular and Translational Medicine in preclinical research on sleep-related neurological diseases. I am currently working as a postdoc at the Italian Institute of Technology working on neurodevelopmental diseases. I have a keen interest in sex and gender medicine related issues and a not-so-secret love for art and writing - especially poetry - and I try to combine all of this in science communication.

Interested in presenting:

Physiology
General Neuroscience
Cognition
Neural excitability
synapses and glia
Developmental Neuroscience
Neurophysiology
Acquiring technical skills
Getting noticed and guided within an organization
Learning about networking
Managing a team
Being a supportive team member
Negotiating a raise
Leading project teams
Improving leadership skills
How to write a scientific paper
Scientific Communication
Microaggressions
how to deal with them
How to Use social media and Networking for a Job Search
3. Both

Sample of a Science/Scholarship Abstract

Dysfunction of GABAergic interneurons plays a role in the etiopathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders. GABAergic transmission through Cl permeable GABA receptors is depolarizing in neurons of the hippocampus CA1 region of the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome. This depends on the upregulation of the Cl-importer NKCC1 and leads to an impairment of synaptic plasticity and memory in Ts65Dn adult mice. Inhibiting NKCC1 rescues the Ts65Dn phenotype. However
the contribution of interneuron subpopulations to the Ts65Dn mice deficits is unknown. We characterized parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SOM)-positive interneurons in the hippocampus of Ts65Dn mice versus control littermates by immunohistochemistry and electrophysiological recordings on brain slices. Ts65Dn mice showed fewer PV interneurons in the of hippocampus. Ts65Dn PV neurons showed wider action potentials
lower action potential frequency
and their excitatory/inhibitory balance was shifted towards inhibition. Differently
Ts65Dn SOM interneurons were reduced and showed higher action potential frequency. LTP experiments on hippocampal slices from Ts65Dn mice expressing inhibitory DREADDs in SOM interneurons showed that diminishing their activity rescued synaptic plasticity. Our results suggest that PV neurons have a defective neurogenesis and maturation
whereas SOM neurons are hyperexcitable. This concurs to the defective hippocampal information-processing of Ts65Dn mice.

What type of talks have you presented in the past?

Scientific Talk - Regulation by hypocretin (orexin) of excitatory postsynaptic potentials in layer V pyramidal neurons of murine prefrontal cortex (PFC)
Colombo G
Coatti A
Vassalli A
Becchetti A - FEPS SIF 2019 Joint Meeting
Bologna Diverse talks as a PhD student representative in the Doctoral School Council of the University of Milano-Bicocca (30th March 2021 – 3rd May 2022; no written report) Active member of the Meet Science science communication initiative (in Italian; https://www.youtube.com/MeetScience) and winner of the 2nd place in Genoa 2024 selection for Famelab.