Laura Librizzi

Presentazione:

BIOLOGIST
SC Neurologia 7 - Epilettologia Clinica e Sperimentale
(italian version)

Since my Master’s degree thesis in Biological Sciences, I was interested in the study of the inflammatory processes taking place in the brain.

During my PhD period spent between the Department of Pharmacological Sciences at the UNIMI and and the Epilepsy Unit at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico C Besta, I learned the technique for isolating and maintaining in in vitro condition the guinea pig brain and my research focused on the evaluation and demonstration of the morphological and functional preservation of neuronal, vascular compartments and blood brain barrier (BBB) in the isolated guinea pig brain preparation.

Research activity

My research centres on the early mechanisms of neuronal inflammation following an epileptic seizure, with a particular attention on the role of the inflammatory processes and immunological alterations on seizure occurrence and recurrence.

In collaboration with Dr Giorgio Carmignoto at CNR of Padova I had also the opportunity to study the mechanisms that link inhibitory GABAergic activation and the changes in extracellular potassium concentration during transition into seizure. Recently, with Dr Laura Uva and Dr Francesco Prada, the combined use of Focused Ultrasound (FUS) waves and intravascular microbubbles (MB) to induce focused BBB opening in the isolated guinea pig brain preparation was demonstrated.

This result paved the way for future studies of drug delivery in the SNC. In the last year, I have been involved in a challenging project focused on the mechanisms leading to neurodegeneration and mild cognitive impairment in Late Onset Epilepsies of Unknown Etiology, in collaboration with Dr Cinzia Costa at the University of Perugia and Dr Nicola Marchi at CNRS of Montpellier with the aim to find predictive biomarkers of neurodegeneration in patient’s easily accessible biofluids.

Topics of interest