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| | I am presently Associate Professor and Principal Investigator at the University of Antwerp. I also retain a visiting academic appointment at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Sheffield (UK), and and external collaboration appointment at the Brain Mind Institute of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (Switzerland).
I was born in Italy, where I was trained as an Electronic Engineer, specialized in Biomedical Engineering. I received my 5 years laurea-degree summa cum laude, from the University of Genova in 1997. During next years, I developed a strong interest for Biophysics and for Computational Neuroscience and, in 2001, I was awarded by the Politecnico di Milano (Italy) with a PhD in Bioengineering, done under the supervision of the late Prof. Massimo Grattarola, among the pioneers of Bioelectronics and Neuroengineering.
In the same year, I received a long-term fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program Organization,
to pursue experimental research on the nervous system, with emphasis on
novel non-conventional experimental paradigms and techniques at the cellular and microcircuit levels. I moved
to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bern (Switzerland), as a member of the Department of Physiology, working in the team of Prof. Hans-Rudolf Luescher and collaborating also with Prof. Stefano Fusi, while he was at the same university.
From 2005 to 2008, I have been Junior Group Leader at the Brain Mind Institute of the EPFL, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) in the laboratory of Prof. Henry Markram, where I continued my activities in cellular neurophysiology and in computational neuroscience, and where I developed an interest for novel (nano)materials for neurotechnology.
Since 2008 I am faculty member at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at our university, where I am spoke-person for the Laboratory of Theoretical Neurobiology and Neuroengineering. In 2011, I received a positive evaluation of my academic tenure probationary period.
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| | My research interests include brain cellular electrophysiology, exploring network-level phenomena in neocortical brain slices and dissociated cell cultures.
I am fascinated by the emergence of the coordinated electrical activity and of non-trivial collective properties, when assemblies and neuronal microcircuits are interacting. Bridging the many missing links between synaptic and single-cell properties and the (electrical) phenomena emerging at higher levels of organization, such as neuronal microcircuits and large populations, is my most ambitious goal.
These experimental activities are supported and inspired by
biophysical mathematical modelling studies and computer-simulations, involving quantitative description of
single-cells and networks of interacting spiking neurons.
I also explore the combination of non-conventional
stimulating/recording tools and nanomaterials (e.g. multi-electrode
substrate arrays - MEAs) with traditional patch-clamp
recording techniques. I am also exploring optogenetics tools and exploit them for network mapping and neuronal microcircuit reprogramming.
My research interests are ultimately related to the field of Neuroengineering and of synthetic neurobiology, where understanding, repairing,
replacing, enhancing, or exploiting the electrical properties of mammalian neural
systems are central ultimate goals.
In the past, I became also interested in combining carbon nanotubes and carbon-based materials to neuronal networks, as a first step towards future generation neuroprosthetics. These activities were covered earlier by Nature News as well as by their english podcasts that feature an interview (1, 2).
While in Switzerland, I also had the chance to explain some of my research in a brief interview on the (swiss-german) national television broadcasting. Click here to download and watch it (be patient while it loads).
If you are an italian speaker, listen to an interview given at the italian national broadcasting RAI Radio 3, or read a featured article on me. More recently, I have been also interviewed on another divulgative scientific broadcasting program "Caccia al Fotone" (in italian). Click here to download and listen to an excerpt of such a broadcasting (be patient while it loads).
I received an international qualification to perform in vitro experiments on cellular tissue (FELASA-Cat. B), and since 2005 to independently direct and plan these experiments (FELASA-Cat. C).
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| | Since 2011 I am coordinating a 4-years long training initiative, generously funded by the European Commission Framework Programme 7 and named NAMASEN.
This is the acronym for a Marie Curie Initial Training Network, whose
ultimate mission is to lay the foundation of a virtual scientific
institute for the multi-disciplinary study of Neuroengineering and
Network-Neurosciences that will train a new generation of scientists and
professionals and that will contribute to Europe’s leading role in
scientific innovation.
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| | In the academic year 2011/2012, the classes of my course "Computational Neuroscience" have been audio-taped and, together with a copy of the overheads and a Syllabus - in preparation - are available on request to UA students.
Video-recording and online streaming of this course (as well as of the 2011/2012 course "System Neuroscience" where I am also contributing lecturer) are currently being organized and will be soon be available online for UA students.
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