Ophthalmology & Optometry

Biography

She started her career as a researcher at the Institute of Neurophysiology of the CNR in Pisa directed by Prof L. Maffei, studying adult visual function. She was at University of Pennsylvania (Prof J. Sprague) and at Max-Plank Institute fur psychiatrie, Munich (prof H. Hollender). Later she became interested in the mechanism of the pre and post-natal development of the visual system. She studied the role of neurotransmitters release in collaboration with Prof L. Chalupa and environmental stress (Dr D. Protti). The main interest during the last decade is concentrated on the mechanisms involved in retinal degeneration and protection. She is enrolled in a research program in collaboration with colleagues from Università Cattolica in Rome (prof Falsini) and University of Sydney (prof J.Stone) focused on the relationship between: 1) genetic background, environmental factors and disease progression; and 2) efficacy of antioxidant/neuroprotective treatments. The most recent work is increasingly therapy-oriented. A successful clinical trial on the therapeutic effects of saffron on Age Related Macular Degeneration patients was carried out in collaboration with Prof B. Falsini at Policlinico Gemelli (università Cattolica di Roma). She was partner PI in the Telethon Project Development and application of opto-neural prosthetic devices as a therapeutic approach for Retinitis pigmentosa” coordinator prof. Lanzani- Politecnico di Milano other Partner Prof Benfenati IIT and University of Genova. She is full professor of physiology and External Collaborator NetS Laboratory Neuroscience and Brain Technologies (NBT) Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) Genova (Italy)

Research Interest

Mechanisms involved in retinal degeneration and protection