Silvia Marinelli, PhD

Dr Marinelli is an accomplished electrophysiologist and group leader at the European Brain Research Institute in Rome, Italy, founded by Rita Levi-Montalcini, Nobel Laureate for the discovery of NGF, in which several research projects are focused on NGF offering a unique environmental ecosystem for NGF studies. Dr Marinelli graduated from the Sapienza University of Rome with a degree in Pharmacy and received the PhD in Neuroscience after spending some years at the University of Sydney. She contributed important findings on the role of GABAergic neurons in cortical microcircuits. As an independent PI, she started a main research program focused on understanding the specific molecular signals underlying neuron-microglia communication in physio-pathological conditions, to provide new insights for developing therapeutic molecules. She has been the recipient of different national and European funding with which she has been able to pursue her own independent research. Indeed, following generous funding, she started investigating the neuroprotective anti-inflammatory actions of NGFp on visual loss in optic pathway glioma in collaboration with clinical ophthalmologists, who are involved in the clinical aspect of this project. The current BrightFocus grant will allow her to collaborate with Dr Francesca Malerba to evaluate the NGFp suitability as an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective drug for glaucoma