Ginevra Matilde Dall’Ò – Neuroscience Academy Denmark

With a background in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, Ginevra Matilde Dall’Ò is eager to dive deeper into the fields of neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.

Ginevra Matilde Dall’Ò completed her master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Trento in 2023. During her master’s education, Ginevra quickly realised that her interests were mainly in the biological part of the field. For her master’s thesis, she investigated the role of inflammation in the progression of Autism Spectrum Disorders. In the future, Ginevra would like to stay within the field of neuroinflammation and shift her focus from neurodevelopmental disorders to neurodegenerative diseases.

For her first rotation, Ginevra will join the Paludan Group at the Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University:

“The first thing that comes to mind as a goal of this rotation will be to gain a bit more experience in methods within the field of molecular biology as my educational background is completely different. At the same time, I want to know a little bit more about the field of immunology,” Ginevra says.

During the pre-PhD year, one of Ginevra’s main goals is to strengthen her translational outlook:

“While I see myself working in basic research in the future, at the same time, as I want to address neurodegenerative diseases, I think it is important to also know what is going on in clinical research. The final aim of all basic and clinical research is the same: to help people and communities. Having an idea of what is going on in the clinic could help me do research in a basic field,” Ginevra explains.

“What I perceive as NAD’s mission is creating a collaborative and translational environment in research. I think science will progress if we collaborate and enhance everybody’s strengths. The fact that there is this exchange of perspectives and this translational idea is inspiring to me,” Ginevra says.

Relocating from Italy to Denmark for a four-year PhD programme is no small move, but Ginevra is excited for the challenges ahead:

“Of course it will be difficult. I know it will be. At the same time, it is exciting because there are new adventures, new challenges and new environments, and I think it will be so stimulating for my creativity and for enhancing my strengths as well,” Ginevra says.

Lab rotations - pre-PhD year

Rotation 1

Paludan Group, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University w/PI Professor Søren Riis Paludan

In her rotation, Ginevra will be working on characterising inflammatory responses in mixed brain cells from mice and evaluating how this is altered by the metabolite itaconate (found in a previous screen to be upregulated in the virus-infected brain). Specifically, Ginevra will do culture work of brain cells and perform in vitro stimulation experiments and isolate material for down-stream RT-qPCR analysis. The plan is that this will be followed by some molecular/biochemical analysis of the immunological pathways that are altered by the metabolite under investigation.

Host: Soren Riis Paludan

Department of Biomedicine · AU

Rotation 2

Department of Neurology, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital w/PI Sanne Simone Kaalund

The study that Ginevra is involved in during her rotation is centered on using immunohistochemistry and computer-assisted analysis to make a semi-quantitative study of the different types of alpha-synuclein aggregates that can be observed in multiple system atrophy. The study will include brain tissue from a series of 40 MSA patients and the pathology scores will be correlated to clinical symptoms. The group is especially interested in testing the hypothesis of a correlation between neuronal inclusions and cognitive deficits.

Department of Neurology · RegH

Rotation 3

Lind Lab, Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen w/PI Assistant Professor Barbara Lykke Lind

In her third rotation, Ginevra is learning how to perform two-photon microscopy experiments in awake mice. In particular, she is involved in a project investigating the relationship between astrocytes’ Ca⁺² activity and neurovascular coupling during voluntary whisking.

Department of Neuroscience · KU

PhD Project

Mapping the Blue Degeneration: Unravelling the role of Noradrenaline onto Neuroinflammation in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Laboratory

Research Laboratory for Stereology and Neuroscience, Department of Neurology

Main supervisor

Lisette Salvesen

Co-supervisors