Scientific Director : Prof. Alessandro Vercelli
The main goal of NICO research center is to study the fundamental biological mechanisms of nervous system function, whose knowledge is essential for the development of innovative therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders.
NICO is an interdepartmental institute of Turin University devoted to Neuroscience. We focus in developing a multidisciplinary approach that combines the skills and expertise of our faculty, with the goal of integrating basic research and its clinical applications.
Our mission
The complexity of neurobiological studies makes it necessary to adopt an interdisciplinary approach. The birth of NICO meets the need of gathering the complementary experiences of 20 university principal investigators and seventy young PhD students and postdocs.
Alzheimer, Huntington, multiple sclerosis, and amiotrophic lateral sclerosis: these are some of the most commonly known neurodegenerative diseases. The road towards their cure inevitably starts from basic research capable of understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms which underlie their pathogenesis.
For this reason, research at NICO is devoted to investigate the normal structure and function of the central nervous system, along with neurodegenerative events and reparative/regenerative processes of nerve and glial cells.
Our 10 Research Groups | Scientific reports
Hosting Extra-EU researchers
From April 2016 the Cavalieri Ottolenghi Foundation has been credited by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research to sign hosting agreements. This means that our Institute may host extra-EU researchers, not resident in the EU, to carry out research projects, to obtain VISA.
Disseminating scientific knowledge throughout the community
Our researchers are very dedicated to making sure that major research findings in neuroscience are made accessible to the public at large. As such, we support a number of community dissemination activities (Brain Awareness Week and European Researcher’s Night). In particular, we have two outreach programs for high school students: UniStem Day and Neuroscience Olympic Games.
These and other initiatives are designed to introduce the students to neuroscience, to demonstrate and engender the commitment and passion that drives scientific research, and to explain the complex findings of neuroscience in a simple and reliable manner.
Laboratories & Facilities
The NICO centre hosts several laboratories covering a wide variety of multidisciplinary research activities applied to neuroscience, including neuroanatomy, cellular and molecular biology, genetics, cellular physiology, thereby creating a very collaborative and highly stimulating scientific atmosphere.
The institute is organized into three floors/levels, each with its own formal scientific logic.
The basement contains the animal facilities, including surgery and behavioural rooms and the centre for image acquisition and analysis.
The ground floor hosts the clinical neurobiology laboratory for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, laboratories for cell biology, the P2 and P3 facilities, one conference space, offices for senior scientists, postdoc researchers and PhD students.
The upper floor is organized in one big open-space containing the laboratory of neuroanatomy, and two independent spaces hosting the molecular biology and electrophysiology facilities.
At this level offices for the senior scientists, the administration managers, and one small meeting room are also present.