Career:
2014-current Senior Researcher (Tenure Track), Group Leader of the Neurobiology of miRNAs lab at IIT
2008-2013 Researcher (no independence of budget). Kickstart of the Neuroscience wet labs and animal facility at IIT.
2006 External collaborator with Clontech inc. (Mountain View, CA, USA). Development of vectors for the detection of miRNAs expression at the single-cell level in vivo.
2004-2008 Fellow Wieland Huttner lab. at Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell-Biology and Genetics, Dresden (Germany). Topic: microRNAs in mouse neurogenesis and neocortical development.
1999-2003 Fellow at DIBIT, Vita-Salute San Raffaele Institute, Milano (Italy). Topic: post-transcriptional control of gene expression in Neural cells.
Education:
PhD in Neurobiology at University of Varese (Italy).
MSc Molecular and Cellular Biology at University of Milano (Italy).
Organization of Scientific Meetings:
2017 Co-organizer/Chair/lecturer, Workshop “Emerging complexity and functions of miRNAs-dependent regulation in neuroscience” at the 12th German Neuroscience Society meeting, Göttingen, Germany. www.nwg-goettingen.de/2017
2016 Organizer, 1st IIT-Merck-Sigma-Aldrich industrial collaboration meeting, Aug 23rd IIT Genoa
2014 Organizer,1st IIT-Promega industrial collaboration meeting, Oct 27th, IIT Genoa
Co-organizer/Lecturer, Symposium on microRNAs in brain development ad function, 9th FENS forum, Milan, Italy, http://fens2014.neurosciences.asso.fr/
2012 Chairman/lecturer, 7th International MicroRNAs Meeting Europe. Symposium “MicroRNAs in Development”. Nov. 1 - 2. University of Cambridge, UK.
External Reviewer:
National and international Grants: 2010, “IIT-SEED” projects (IIT grants for External labs); 2011, Singapore Medical Research Council; 2017, Royal Society-Wellcome-Trust, UK; 2015-2018, Swiss National Research Foundation, CH.
As Panelist of a PhD committee: 2017 Amsterdam Univ (The Netherlands); 2018 Univ. of Geneva (Switzerland).
Scientific Journals (in Alphabetical order, several/year): Biol. Psych.; Brain Plast.; Cell. Mol. Life Sci.; Development; Developmental Biol.; EMBO. Rep; Front. Neurosci; Front.Genetics; Heliyon; Human Mol. Gen.; J.Mol.Neurosci.; J.Neurosci.; Mol. Neurobiol.; Mol. Psychiatry; Nature Comm.; Neurogenesis; Neuron; Nucl. Acids Res.; PNAS; Prog.Neurobiol., RNABiol.; RNA; Sci.Reports; Stem Cells Dev.; Stem Cell. Rep.; Trend.Biotech.
Membership of professional societies:
2015 – Present Associate Member, Japan Neuroscience Society http://www.jnss.org/en/
2010 – Present Full Member, International Society for Stem Cells Research http://www.isscr.org/
2008 – Present Full Member, RNA Society https://www.rnasociety.org/
Teaching activities:
2018-present Contract Professor of “Developmental Neurobiology” Master degree in biotechnology, University of Genova, Italy (24 hours/year, 10 students on average).
2017-present Habilitation as Associate Professor (Italian Ministry of Reasearch and Education) in “Molecular Biology”; “Applied Biology” and “Comparative Anatomy and Cytology”.
2008-present Lecturer of “Stem cells and noncoding RNA biology”, IIT-Univ of Genoa joint doctoral school (8 hours/year, 30 students on average)
2008-2010 Contract Professor of “Neural stem cell differentiation” for the Master degree in Molecular and Cell Biology, at University of Genova, Italy (24 hours year; 10 students on average)
Dissecting control of neurogensis by noncoding RNAs and other post transcriprional mechanisms as key to understand brain (mal)formation and aging.
Research of my group focuses on:
i) Small RNAs in basic and translational aspects of neurogenesis in mammals
ii) New technological approaches enabling oligotherapy for human brain dysfunctions
Grants:
EU-REA, Marie Curie Actions (MCA) Call: FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG. TITLE: NEUROGENESIS IN 22Q11.2 DELETION SYNDROME: ROLE OF microRNAs. ACRONYM: MIRNAS/22Q11DS. D. De Pietri Tonelli, Coordinator; F. Niola, Grantee. Project Budget, 100.000 Euros. Project duration 2011-2015.
FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF. Acronym: “ASTROCLOCK”; Title “Astrocyte regulation of circadian behaviour” Olga Barca Mayo (Grantee); Davide De Pietri Tonelli (Scientific Coordinator). Project Budget: 241.567 €; Project Duration: 2014 – 2016.
AIRC - Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro. Title: Stimuli-Responsive Nanoparticles for eradicating different subsets of cancer cells within tumors. PI Teresa Pellegrino; Davide De Pietri Tonelli (Collaborator). Project Budget 180.000 €; Project Duration 02/01/2014-01/01/2017.
Fondazione CARIPLO, Call 2015 “Biomedical research on ageing-related diseases”. Title “Role of the astrocyte-mediated circadian clock in neurodegeneration and brain aging”. PI/Coordinator Francesco Nicassio IIT@SEMM, Milan; Co-PIs: Davide De Pietri Tonelli, Olga Barca Mayo (NBT Dept. IIT Genoa) and Michele Cilli (H San Martino, Genoa). Project Budget 349,650 €. Project duration 2016-2020
AIRC - Investigator Grant. Role PI. Title: Differentiation therapy for GBM through synergic action of 11 miRNAs/drugs delivered via lipid/polymeric nanoparticles. Project Budget 599.610 €. Project Duration 2018-2022
L’Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) è una fondazione di diritto privato - cfr. determinazione Corte dei Conti 23/2015 “IIT è una fondazione da inquadrare fra gli organismi di diritto pubblico con la scelta di un modello di organizzazione di diritto privato per rispondere all’esigenza di assicurare procedure più snelle nella selezione non solo nell’ambito nazionale dei collaboratori, scienziati e ricercatori ”.
IIT è sotto la vigilanza del Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca e del Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze ed è stato istituito con la Legge 326/2003. La Fondazione ha l'obiettivo di promuovere l'eccellenza nella ricerca di base e in quella applicata e di favorire lo sviluppo del sistema economico nazionale. La costruzione dei laboratori iniziata nel 2006 si è conclusa nel 2009.
Lo staff complessivo di IIT conta circa 1440 persone. L’area scientifica è rappresentata da circa l’85% del personale. Il 45% dei ricercatori proviene dall’estero: di questi, il 29% è costituito da stranieri provenienti da oltre 50 Paesi e il 16% da italiani rientrati. Oggi il personale scientifico è composto da circa 60 principal investigators, circa 110 ricercatori e tecnologi di staff, circa 350 post doc, circa 500 studenti di dottorato e borsisti, circa 130 tecnici. Oltre 330 posti su 1400 creati su fondi esterni. Età media 34 anni. 41% donne / 59 % uomini.
Nel 2015 IIT ha ricevuto finanziamenti pubblici per circa 96 milioni di euro (80% del budget), conseguendo fondi esterni per 22 milioni di euro (20% budget) provenienti da 18 progetti europei, 17 finanziamenti da istituzioni nazionali e internazionali, circa 60 progetti industriali
La produzione di IIT ad oggi vanta circa 6990 pubblicazioni, oltre 130 finanziamenti Europei e 11 ERC, più di 350 domande di brevetto attive, oltre 12 start up costituite e altrettante in fase di lancio. Dal 2009 l’attività scientifica è stata ulteriormente rafforzata con la creazione di dieci centri di ricerca nel territorio nazionale (a Torino, Milano, Trento, Parma, Roma, Pisa, Napoli, Lecce, Ferrara) e internazionale (MIT ed Harvard negli USA) che, unitamente al Laboratorio Centrale di Genova, sviluppano i programmi di ricerca del piano scientifico 2015-2017.
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) is a public research institute that adopts the organizational model of a private law foundation. IIT is overseen by Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca and Ministero dell'Economia e delle Finanze (the Italian Ministries of Education, Economy and Finance). The Institute was set up according to Italian law 326/2003 with the objective of promoting excellence in basic and applied research andfostering Italy’s economic development. Construction of the Laboratories started in 2006 and finished in 2009.
IIT has an overall staff of about 1,440 people. The scientific staff covers about 85% of the total. Out of 45% of researchers coming from abroad 29% are foreigners coming from more than 50 countries and 16% are returned Italians. The scientific staff currently consists of approximately 60 Principal Investigators, 110 researchers and technologists, 350 post-docs and 500 PhD students and grant holders and 130 technicians. External funding has allowed the creation of more than 330 positions . The average age is 34 and the gender balance proportion is 41% female against 59% male.
In 2015 IIT received 96 million euros in public funding (accounting for 80% of its budget) and obtained 22 million euros in external funding (accounting for 20% of its budget). External funding comes from 18 European Projects, other 17 national and international competitive projects and approximately 60 industrial projects.
So far IIT accounts for: about 6990 publications, more than 130 European grants and 11 ERC grants, more than 350 patents or patent applications, 12 up start-ups and as many which are about to be launched. The Institute’s scientific activity has been further strengthened since 2009 with the establishment of 11 research nodes throughout Italy (Torino, Milano, Trento, Parma, Roma, Pisa, Napoli, Lecce, Ferrara) and abroad (MIT and Harvard University, USA), which, along with the Genoa-based Central Lab, implement the research programs included in the 2015-2017 Strategic Plan.
