Università di Verona

Neuropathology and Neuroimmunology

Verona, Italy

Posted on May 10, 2024  •  2 minutes  • 341 words

Contribution to the project:

Neuropathological and molecular characterization of the intrathecal immune response against EBV and of the linked brain pathology in post-mortem multiple sclerosis cases.

Team Members

Roberta Magliozzi - Unit Head

Roberta Magliozzi is an Associate Professor at the Dept of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences of University of Verona. She graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (1999) and then obtained a doctorate in Neuroimmunology at the Imperial College London (2009), where she maintains an honorary position of Senior Lecturer. Since the beginning, her main research interest is to better understand the immunopathological mechanisms and the inflammatory response and the role of ectopic tertiary lymphoid-like structures in the meningeal compartment of post-mortem MS tissues and to characterize the linked cortical grey matter damage and the intrathecal inflammation generated in the cerebrospinal fluid. She has contributed to 75 peer reviewed publications (h-index:35) also assessing the role of EBV as possible trigger of multiple sclerosis chronic inflammation. She recently achieved also a RFA-grant from the National MS Society (NMSS) “Meningeal lymphoid-like structures as secret EBV hideout in multiple sclerosis” involving spatial transcriptomic analysis of EBV gene expression combined with human gene expression in the leptomeninges of post-mortem MS cases.

Benedetta Bellini – NMSS fellow

Neuropathological assessment of EBV markers of latent and lytic cycle in combination with characterization of the lesion presence and activity, of the type and number of immune cells and of clinical features of a large cohort of post-mortem MS cases obtained from the UK MS tissue bank and from Washington University.

Marina Mastantuono – PhD Student (2nd year)

Molecular (in-situ sequencing Cartana) and neuropathological characterization of cell and molecular components of leptomeninges in of a large cohort of post-mortem MS cases obtained from the UK MS tissue bank and from Washington University.

Elena Barusolo – PhD Student (1st year)

Proteomic analysis of paired CSF samples obtained at time of death from post-mortem MS cases and analysis of the clinical-neuropathological correlation in order to identify new, MS-specific biomarkers of neuroaxonal damage and neuroinflammation.