Alessandra Lodi joined the Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi in April 2024 as part of the Neuropharmacology group. Prior to joining the institute, she worked at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research (Belgium) as Junior scientist and completed her MS thesis at Imperial College London (United Kingdom): in both cases, her work focused on underlying the mechanisms of sleep in Drosophila melanogaster and the investigating the role of dopamine in sleep regulation. Alessandra obtained her MS in neuroscience from the University of Trieste and her BS from the University of Perugia. Alessandra’s early research experience includes neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of different animal models (fruit flies and mice), circadian rhythms, behavioural studies, image analysis, molecular techniques and statistical analysis.
Research focus
The group of Neuropsychopharmacology at NICO is interested in studying the underlying mechanisms of different rare diseases and identifying potential new therapeutic targets. In particular, Alessandra’s work focuses on the analysis of perineuronal nets (PNNs) as pharmacological targets for the Fragile X syndrome (FXS), a rare condition causing cognitive and social deficits.
Thanks to her expertise in animal behaviour and image analysis, Alessandra’s main interest is elucidating the role of PNNs in the FXS, with the final aim to employ these structures as potential therapeutic targets. She is currently working on the consequences of maternal FXS behaviour on the progeny, as well as the formation and maturation of PNNs at different life stages. In parallel, Alessandra’s work is expanding to other pharmacoresistant pathologies, notably epilepsy, with the aim to find alternative therapeutic strategies.
