Mariarosa Mezzanotte graduated in Biology at the Univ. of Catania (2012) and in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the Univ. of Torino (2015). In the same year, she obtained the Professional Biologist Qualification at the Univ. of Catania. In June 2021 she obtained the Ph.D. in Experimental Medicine and Therapy at the Univ. of Turin.
In May 2022, she joined as PostDoc Fellow the Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO) in Pr. Vercelli’s group under the supervision of Prof. Serena Stanga to study brain iron metabolism in aging and dementia. In 2023 she has been Visiting Researcher at Health Sciences Research Center, Univ. of Beira Interior and she received a fellowship by the European Society for Neurochemistry (ENS) to attend the ESN-ISN Neurochemistry School 2023 in Portugal.
In 2024 she has been awarded with the PostDoc Fellowship by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi to study the beneficial effects of exercise on brain iron levels, cognition and locomotion at NICO, Univ. of Torino.
Research focus
The research activity of Mariarosa Mezzanotte is focused on the study of iron metabolism in the Central Nervous System in the context of aging and neurodegenerative diseases. She contributed to the molecular characterization of iron metabolism in mice brains during aging and to the understanding iron regulation is also active in the brain. Indeed, brain iron accumulation due to iron dyshomeostasis is a typical pathological feature of aging and several neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
The main goal of her research is to study intracerebral iron levels employing in vivo models, biochemical and histological analysis of the main proteins involved in iron metabolism and mitochondrial activity. The aim is to understand if iron dyshomeostasis and mitochondrial iron could trigger amyloid pathology. Moreover, her research activity is also focused on the study of the beneficial effects of exercise on brain iron levels, cognition and locomotion.
