Dr. Alessandro Didonna holds the position of Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurology at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He trained in the fields of functional genomics and molecular neurobiology with an emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases. He obtained his PhD degree in 2010 at the International School for Advanced Studies (Italy), with a dissertation on the effects of prion infection on neuronal signaling. He subsequently moved to Northwestern University to complete his first postdoctoral fellowship on the molecular basis of the movement disorder spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). In 2013, he joined UCSF for a second postdoctoral training, focusing on the functional characterization of genetic determinants underpinning multiple sclerosis (MS) susceptibility. After transitioning to a faculty position in 2016, Dr. Didonna has further expanded his research efforts to the analysis of the events underlying the transition from relapsing-remitting to progressive MS forms. His current research program aims at testing the hypothesis that misfolding and aggregation of tau protein in the brain of MS patients actively contributes to the neurodegenerative processes taking place upon disease progression.
