Giandomenico Iannetti leads the Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory at the Italian Institute of Technology and is Professor of Neuroscience at University College London (UCL).
He leads a multidisciplinary research group (www.iannettilab.net) that investigates fundamental questions about how animals cope with the world through perception and action. In particular, he is interested in understanding the brain mechanisms for the detection and the motor reaction to surprising and sudden environmental stimuli. This research is relevant for the study of pain, defensive behaviours, and peripersonal space. He has published >135 peer-reviewed research articles, with >10,000 citations, and an H-index of 55.
After a PhD from “Sapienza” University of Rome (2003) and a post-doc at the University of Oxford (2003-2006), in 2006 he was awarded a Royal Society University Fellowship, which he started as Lecturer at the University of Oxford. In 2009 he moved to University College London (UCL), where in 2014 was appointed Full Professor of Neuroscience. In 2018 he started the Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory at the Italian Institute of Technology. His research is funded by the Wellcome Trust, European Research Council and Medical Research Council.
He is the recipient of several international awards, including a Royal Society University Fellowship (2006-2014), the 2012 Patrick Wall Award from the International Association for the Study of Pain, the 2013 Wall Medal from the British Pain Society, a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (2015-2020), an ERC Consolidator Grant (2016-2020), and the 2014 Camillo Golgi Prize of the Accademia dei Lincei.
For a full list of publications, see: www.iannettilab.net
10 Reviews and Opinions
Bufacchi RJ, Iannetti GD.
An action field theory of peripersonal space
Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2018
Novembre G, Iannetti GD
Tagging the musical beat: Neural Entrainment or Event-Related Potentials?
PNAS 2018
Mouraux A, Iannetti GD
The search for pain biomarkers in the human brain
Brain 2018
Davis KD, Flor H, Greely HT, Iannetti GD, et al.
Brain imaging tests for chronic pain: medical, legal and ethical issues and recommendations
Nature Reviews Neurology 2017
Hu L, Iannetti GD
Painful issues in pain prediction
Trends in Neurosciences 2016
Iannetti GD, Salomons TV, Moayedi M, Mouraux A, Davis KD
Beyond metaphor: contrasting mechanisms of social and physical pain
Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2013
Haggard P, Iannetti GD, Longo M
Spatial Sensory Organization and Body Representation in Pain Perception
Current Biology 2013
Iannetti GD, Mouraux A
Can the functional MRI responses to physical pain really tell us why social rejection "hurts"?
PNAS 2011
Legrain V, Iannetti GD, Plaghki L, Mouraux A
The pain matrix reloaded. A salience detection system for the body
Progress in Neurobiology 2011
Iannetti GD, Mouraux A
From the Neuromatrix to the Pain Matrix (and back). Review
Experimental Brain Research 2010
20 Experimental Articles
Novembre G, Pawar VM, Bufacchi RJ, Kilintari M, Srinivasan MA, Rothwell JC, Haggard P, Iannetti GD
Saliency detection as a reactive process: unexpected sensory events evoke cortico-muscular coupling
Journal of Neuroscience 2018
Kilintari M, Bufacchi RJ, Novembre G, Guo Y, Haggard, P, Iannetti GD
High-precision voluntary movements are largely independent from preceding vertex potentials elicited by sudden sensory events
Journal of Physiology 2018
Jin QQ, Wu GQ, Peng WW, Xia XL, Hu L, Iannetti GD
Somatotopic representation of second pain in the primary somatosensory cortex of humans and rodents
Journal of Neuroscience 2018
Bufacchi RJ, Iannetti GD
Gravitational cues modulate the shape of defensive peripersonal space
Current Biology 2016
Solomons TV, Iannetti GD, Liang ML, Wood JN (equal contributions)
The Pain Matrix in Pain-Free Individuals
JAMA Neurology 2016
Hu L, Cai MM, Xiao P, Luo F, Iannetti GD
Human Brain Responses to Concomitant Stimulation of Aδ and C Nociceptors
Journal of Neuroscience 2014
Mancini F, Bauleo A, Cole J, Lui F, Porro CA, Haggard P, Iannetti GD
Whole-body mapping of spatial acuity for pain and touch
Annals of Neurology 2014
Liang M, Mouraux A, Hu L, Iannetti GD
Primary Sensory Cortices Contain Distinguishable Spatial Patterns of Activity for Each Sense
Nature Communications 2013
Sambo C, Iannetti GD
Better safe than sorry? The safety margin surrounding the body is increased by anxiety
Journal of Neuroscience 2013
Mancini F, Sambo C, Ramirez JD, Bennett DLH, Haggard P, Iannetti GD
A fovea for pain at the fingertips
Current Biology 2013
Liang M, Mouraux A, Iannetti GD
Bypassing primary sensory cortices—a direct thalamocortical pathway for transmitting salient sensory information
Cerebral Cortex 2013
Zhang ZG, Hu L, Hung YS, Mouraux A, Iannetti GD
Gamma-band oscillations in the primary somatosensory cortex--a direct and obligatory correlate of subjective pain intensity
Journal of Neuroscience 2012
Sambo CF, Forster T, Williams S, Iannetti GD
To Blink or Not to Blink: Fine Cognitive Tuning of the Defensive Peripersonal Space
Journal of Neuroscience 2012
Moseley GL, Gallace A, Iannetti GD
Spatially-defined modulation of skin temperature and hand ownership of both hands, in people with unilateral complex regional pain syndrome
Brain 2012
Liang M, Mouraux A, Iannetti GD
Parallel processing of nociceptive and non-nociceptive somatosensory information in the human primary and secondary somatosensory cortices
Journal of Neuroscience 2011
Mouraux A, Diukova A, Lee MC, Wise RG, Iannetti GD
A multisensory investigation of the functional significance of the "pain matrix"
NeuroImage 2011
Lee MC, Mouraux A, Iannetti GD
Characterizing the cortical activity related to the emergence of a conscious painful experience
Journal of Neuroscience 2009
Mouraux A, Iannetti GD
Laser-evoked potentials do not reflect nociceptive-specific brain activity
Journal of Neurophysiology 2009
Iannetti GD, Lee MC, Hughes NP, Mouraux A
The determinants of laser-evoked EEG responses: pain perception or stimulus saliency?
Journal of Neurophysiology 2008
Iannetti GD, Zambreanu L, Wise RG, et al.
Pharmacological modulation of pain-related brain activity during normal and central sensitization states in humans
PNAS 2005
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.
