MARIA TERESA FIORENZA

ID RESEARCHER PLATFORM AND PERSONAL AUTHOR ID: ORCID 0000-0002-5079-4019
Scopus 0000-0002-5079-4019

EDUCATION and TRAINING
- October 1989: MS in Biological Sciences (magna cum laude), University "La Sapienza" of Rome.
- October 1995: PhD in Biotechnology, University of L'Aquila.
- January - March 1990: short stage, Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA.
- January 1992 - July 1994: PhD student, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Copenhagen University, DK.
- July 1994 - October 1998: pre-and postdoctoral fellow, Department of Hystology and Medical Embryology, University "La Sapienza" of Rome.
- January 1998 - October 1999: Postdoctoral fellow, Laboratory of Mammalian Genes and Development, National Institute of Child Health and Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
-September-October 2000: Visiting scientist, Laboratory of Mammalian Genes and Development, National Institute of Child Health and Development, NIH, Bethesda, USA

A. Personal Statement
During my scientific career, I have acquired a solid expertise in molecular and cellular biology, gene expression analysis, and basic and advanced biochemistry, working as a pre- and postdoctoral fellow in various laboratories in Europe and the US.
My extensive training enabled me to develop independent thinking skills and to establish novel research activities in my own laboratory. Studies of the molecular mechanisms controlling neural development became the predominant focus of my research roughly 15 years ago. To address these issues, I developed several methodological tools, including primary cultures of neural cells and ex vivo brain slices. The main issues addressed in my laboratory involved the use of genetic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and Niemann-Pick C (NPC) disease. Regarding the latter, my expertise in the mouse cerebellum led me to focus on the peculiar cerebellar anomalies in this disease. The findings of this activity have shown that cholesterol dyshomeostasis causes subtle abnormalities in developing neurons and glial cells that largely anticipate the overt expression of neurodegeneration.

B. Positions and Honors
Positions and Employment
- 1999 - 2004: Assistant Professor, Applied Biology - SSD BIO/13 - Dept. of Psychology, Division of Neuroscience, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy.
- 2005 – 2023: Associate Professor, Applied Biology - SSD BIO/13 - Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Dept. of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
- December 2023 – present: Full Professor, Applied Biology - SSD BIO/13 (BIOS/10A) Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Dept. of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

Honors
- 1992 Marie Curie EU, two-year fellowship.
- 1995 Pasteur Institute - Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, two-year fellowship.
- 1998 Italian National Research Council (CNR), Laboratory of Mammalian Genes and Development, National Institute of Child Health and Development, NIH, Bethesda, USA, one-year fellowship, one-year fellowship,
- 1999 Fogarty International, Laboratory of Mammalian Genes and Development, National Institute of Child Health and Development, NIH, Bethesda, USA, one-year fellowship

Other Experience and Professional Membership
- Member of: Society for Neuroscience; European Cell Death Organization; Federation of European Neurosciences; Italian Society for Biology and Genetics; Italian Society for Neuroscience.
- Review Editor, Frontiers in Neuroscience since November 2012.
- Academic Editor, PLOS ONE since October 2019.
- Associate Editor, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, since October 2019.
- Ad-hoc reviewer for: Developmental Biology, Journal of Cellular Physiology, Molecular and
Cellular Neuroscience, Journal of Cell Science, Neuroscience, PLOS ONE, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, Neurochemical Research, Scientific Reports, BMC Medicine, Cell Cycle, Human Reproduction, Gene, Neuroscience Research, International Journal of Molecular Science.
- Grant application reviewer for the following Institutions/Foundations: 1) “Vaincre les Maladies Lysosomales”, a French non-profit organization for lysosomal diseases; 2) “LifeArc Philanthropic”, a British medical research charity; 3) European Science Foundation (ESF); 4) NWO Talent program - Vidi 2022 SA; 5) Italian MUR (FIRB and SIR proposals)
- Reviewer for H2020-MSCA-IF-2022.
- November 2025 – present, European Science Foundation (ESF), Expert Reviewer.
- CIVIS BIP Novel Research and Ethics: from Neuroscience to AI, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2024; Board member.
- CIVIS BIP Novel Research and Ethics: from Neuroscience to AI, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, 2025; Board member.

C. Contribution to Science
I have long-term experience in mammalian embryology and developmental neurobiology. At the beginning of my scientific career, I studied the developmental regulation of Heat Shock Response in mouse oogenesis and preimplantation embryo development. In 1992-1994, working at the Dept of Molecular and Cell Biology of Copenhagen University, I investigated the molecular regulation of heat shock gene transcription factors (HSFs) and identified novel murine HSF1 and HSF2 splice isoforms having additional 66 (mHSF1) and 54 (mHSF2) "in frame" nucleotides, respectively.
Back at Sapienza University, I continued to work in the same field, developing new micromethods to analyze molecular processes inaccessible to standard techniques, including semi-quantitative RT-PCR mRNA determinations on single oocytes/embryos and transcription factor titrations by intranuclear microinjection of competing oligonucleotides in single living cells.
During a two-year post-doctoral stage (1998 - 1999) at the NIH of Bethesda, I also became well acquainted with the field of developmental neurobiology. By exploiting the lhx3 null mutant mouse model, which displays pituitary hypoplasia, I identified genes differentially expressed in the developing pituitary gland of wild-type and lhx3 null mutant embryos by subtractive hybridization and library screening. This approach led me to identify several novel genes, among them Tsc22d4, a member of the TGF beta1-stimulated gene family. Thereafter, in pursuit of the functional characterization of this gene, I have developed specific tools to investigate neuronal development.
My research interests also included the study of molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease, and I also entered the field of rare genetic lysosomal storage diseases. Using genetic mouse models of Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease, I have characterized developmental abnormalities of neurons and glial cells in brain areas, such as the cerebellum and the olfactory bulb, where neuronal generation and differentiation can be studied in the postnatal life. In these studies, defective Shh signaling, which relies on covalent lipid modification, has been identified as the main driver of abnormal neuronal differentiation and functional maturation. Studies in progress are investigating the contributions of microglial activation and mitochondrial dysfunction to NPC disease and also assessing drugs aimed at restoring normal mitochondrial bioenergetics.

Collaborations
- Prof. Sergio Oddi, European Center for Brain Research (CERC)/Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
- Aditya Kulkarni, Oraxion Therapeutics, Bangalore, India, http://www.oraxiontx.com.
- Prof. Robert P Erickson, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Arizona School of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, 85724-5073, USA.
- Dr. Andrea Dardis, Regional Center for Rare Diseases, Hospital of Udine, Italy.
- Prof. John Hiscott, Director of Laboratorio Pasteur, Istituto Pasteur-Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti in Rome Italy.
- Prof. Lawrence I Grossman, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
- Dr. Antonella Ferrante, Reparto di Ricerca Farmacologica e Terapia Sperimentale – FARVA - Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS, 00161 Roma, Italy.