Born in Turin on 25.12.1967 - Italian. 1991. Doctor in Biological Sciences summa cum laude, University of Turin 1992-1993. Post-lauream apprenticeship at the II Neurological Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turin 1992-1998 Research fellow, University of Turin 1994. Professional certificate for Biologists, University of Turin 1998 Research Doctorate in Neurological Sciences, Ministry of Education and Science, Rome 1994-1999 Short research stays at the Rudolf Magnus Institute, University of Utrecht, Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Amsterdam and University of Tuebingen 1998-2000 Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Physiology, University of Turin 2001-present Tenured Assistant Professor of Physiology (BIO/09), University of Turin 2004-2005 Visiting Researcher at the Helmholtz Zentrum (GSF, now Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt, GmbH) and Ludwig Maximilans University, Munich, Germany Research interests Our research focuses on the role of glia and progenitor cells in brain plasticity and repair, and on the implementation of cell replacement approaches and/or training protocols to promote functional recovery in CNS diseases. We believe that specific issues regarding glia and neural progenitors are particularly promising to unveil new keys to the understanding of physiology, disease and repair. We therefore investigate: (i) cellular and molecular mechanisms of astroglial heterogeneity and plasticity; (ii) physiopathology of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells; iii) therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative diaseses based on cell replacement and training; main model systems are the cerebellum, the neocortex and the striatum of rodents.