STEFANO GAROFALO

Professional experiences

• 2025-Present Associate Professor SSD Bios-06/A Physiology, Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2024-2025 Researcher Tenure Track (RTT) Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2021-2023 Researcher (RTD-A) Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2019-2021 AIRC Fellowship (Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro) Dep. Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2018 Post-Doc Pasteur Insitute Italy, Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, Rome, Italy.
• 2017 Post-Doc IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli (IS), Italy.
• 2017 Internship in Neurophysiology Dep. of Neurobiology, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio.
• 2016 Post-Doc Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2014 Visiting Researcher NEUROFARBA, Dep. Neuroscience, Firenze, Italia.
• 2011 Internship in Sensory-Motor Neuroscience Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Lab. of Neurophysiology Prof. Roberto Caminiti.

Education

• 2012-2015 PhD in Neurophysiology final mark: with honors. Thesis: “Enriched environment reduces glioma growth through immune and non-immune mechanisms in mice” Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

• 2010-2012 Master degree in Neurobiology final mark: 110/110 cum laude. Dep. Cellular and Development Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

Italian national academic qualifications
• National Scientific Qualification for the functions of second tier university professor in the Competition Sector 05/D1 – SSD BIO / 09 FISIOLOGIA, from 01/31/2022 to 01/31/2033.

• Enabling in the National order of Biologist, 2012.

ACADEMIC ROLE

• 2025-Present Associate Professor SSD Bios-06/A Physiology, Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2024-Present Scientific Board of Ph.D. course in CLINICAL EXPERIMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE AND PSYCHIATRY, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2024-2025 Researcher Tenure Track (RTT) Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2021-2023 Researcher (RTD-A) Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

• Academic year 2023/2024 to present: Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine as Professor of the Physiology course – Degree in Obstetrics L/SNT1 BIO/09.

• Academic years 2021/2022 to present: Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine as Professor of the Physiology course - Degree course in Pharmaceutical chemistry and technology (CTF) LM-13 BIO / 09.

• Academic years 2020/2021 to present: Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine: supplementary teaching activities for the course of Physiology - Degree course in Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences BIO / 09.

• Academic years 2019/2020 to present: Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine: supplementary teaching activities for the course of Advanced Morphofunctional Sciences and Techniques II - Degree course in Medical Biotechnology BIO / 09.

Courses and Workshop

• 2022 Technical Course “Animal Behaviour Analysis: from handling to analysis” EpiEpiNet, Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM), Lisbon, Portugal.
• 2018 Workshop “Animal Welfare in Neuroscience Research”, Dep. Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
• 2017 EFIS-EJI Ruggero Ceppellini Advance school in immunology course, Naples, Italy.
• 2016 SynaNet Workshop on Neuroinflammation. Department of Neurobiology, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
• 2015 19th Physiology italian school course SIF Molecular and Cellular Biophysics of Excitable Cells. Pavia, Italy.
• 2014 18th Physiology italian school course SIF Brain functional organization and brain imaging in humans. Chieti, Italy.

Memberships of Scientific societies

• Since 2021 Member of SIF (Italian Society of Physiology)

• Since 2017 Member of AINI (Italian Association of Neuroimmunology)

Grants

2025-2028 Principal Investigator grant FIS Fondo Italiano per la Scienza FIS-2023-02628 Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (1.653.167,45 euro).

2023-2025 Principal Investigator grant PRIN 2022488T5S Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (225.922 euro).

2022-25 Principal Investigator grant PNRR CN3 - PNRR M4C2-Investimento 1.4- CN00000041 UE NextGenerationEU - Spoke 2 Cancer Rna based therapeutics in cancer: from discovery to pre-clinical studies (248.000 euro).

2023-26 Co-Principal Investigator grant Italian Ministry of Health (Ricerca Finalizzata GR-2021- 12372494) Co-PI Unravelling the role of astrocyte mediated phagocytosis in brain tumors (67.500 euro).

2019 Principal Investigator ARISLA – Pilot Grant (Italian Research Foundation for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) (57.000 euro).

2019-21 Principal Investigator of AIRC (Italian association for cancer research) three-year research project Fellowship “David Raffaelli” (75.000 euro).

LOCAL GRANTS

2025 Principal Investigator University Grant (Fondo di Ateneo per la Ricerca) RG124190C9E344F9, Sapienza University of Rome (41.000 euro).

2024 Principal Investigator University Grant (Fondo di Ateneo per la Ricerca) RM123188D841DC5F, Sapienza University of Rome (10.620 euro).

2023 Principal Investigator University Grant (Fondo di Ateneo per la Ricerca) RM122181618AF923, Sapienza University of Rome (10.000 euro).

2016 Principal Investigator University Grant “Avvio alla Ricerca”, Sapienza University of Rome (4.000 euro).

Travel Grants and Awards
• Young Research Awards years 2015, 2017 and 2020 for best published research in Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Rome, Sapienza (2000 euro).
• Grant for course “EFIS-EJI Ruggero Ceppellini Advance school in immunology” 2017.
• Grant for AINIESNI2017 XXVI AINI Congress and ESNI 16th course 2017.
• Neuroscience fellowship 2017 at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Rome, Sapienza (5000 euro).
• Pasteur Insitute Italy, Cenci Bolognetti foundation, fellowship 2016 (6000 euro).

Editorial activity

Reviewer activity for the following magazines:
Nature Communications; Nature group-Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy; Journal of Neuroinflammation; Brain, Behaviour and Immunity (BBI); Brain Research; Clinical immunology; Frontiers in cellular Neurosc.; Cellular and Molecular Immunology (CMI); Frontiers in Immunology.

Guest Editor: Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience nel 2020
Frontiers in Cell and Development Biology nel 2022

Publications (2015-2026):

1. Z. Bian, et al. Bola-amphiphilic glycodendrimers for targeting glial cells in the brain. Nanoscale doi: 10.1039/D5NR03017J. 2025 (I.F. 5.1).
2. Russo E, et al. Cxcr3 promotes protection from colorectal cancer liver metastasis by driving NK cell infiltration and plasticity. J Clin Invest. doi: 10.1172/JCI184036. 2025 (I.F. 13.3).
3. Noce B, et al. Design of Benzyl-triazolopyrimidine-Based NADPH Oxidase Inhibitors Leads to the Discovery of a Potent Dual Covalent NOX2/MAOB Inhibitor. J Med Chem. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c02644. 2025 (I.F. 6.9).
4. Garofalo S., et al. Platelets tune fear memory in mice Cell Reports, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115261 Volume 44, Issue 2, 115261 2025 (I.F. 7.5).
5. Cocozza G., … Garofalo S.* and Limatola C.* GDF15-GFRAL signaling drives weight loss and lipid metabolism in mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Brain Behav Immun. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.12.010 2024 (I.F. 8.8).
6. Ferrucci L, et al. Time-dependent phenotypical changes of microglia drive alterations in hippocampal synaptic transmission in acute slices. Front Cell Neurosci. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2024.1456974 2024 (I.F. 4.2).
7. Garofalo S., D'Alessandro G., Limatola C. Microglia in Glioma. Adv Neurobiol. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-55529-9_28 2024.
8. Di Castro M.A.*, Garofalo S.*, et al. Interleukin-15 alters hippocampal synaptic transmission and impairs episodic memory formation in mice Brain Behaviour and Immunity doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.11.015 2023 (I.F. 15.1).
9. Calafatti M., Cocozza G., Limatola C., Garofalo S. Microglial crosstalk with astrocytes and immune cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Front. in Immunology doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1223096 2023 (I.F. 7.3).
10. Sozio F.,… Mantovani A., Del Prete A. and Sozzani S. CCRL2 expression by specialized lung capillary endothelial cells controls NK cell homing in lung cancer Cancer Immunology Research 2023 (I.F. 12.020).
11. Garofalo S., Cocozza G., … Sozzani S., Santoni A., Tremblay M.E., Ransohoff R.M., Limatola C. Natural killer cells and innate lymphoid cells 1 tune anxiety-like behavior and memory in mice via interferon-γ and acetylcholine. Nature Communications doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38899-3 2023 (I.F. 17.694).
12. De Felice E.*, Gonçalves de Andrade E.*, Golia M.T., González Ibáñez F., Khakpour M., Di Castro M.A., Garofalo S.,…Maggi L. Microglial diversity along the hippocampal longitudinal axis impacts synaptic plasticity in adult male mice under homeostatic conditions J. of Neuroinflammation (I.F. 7.573).
13. Di Castro M.A., Garofalo S., et al. Environmental enrichment counteracts the effects of glioma in primary visual cortex Neurobiology of Disease 2022 (I.F. 5.996).
14. Garofalo S., Cocozza G., Bernardini G., Savage J., Raspa M., Aronica E., Tremblay ME., Ransohoff RM., Santoni A., Limatola C. Blocking Immune Cell infiltration of the Central Nervous System to Tame Neuroinflammation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Brain Behaviour and Immunity 2022 (I.F. 19.227).
15. Mormino A., Garofalo S. Dialogue among Lymphocytes and Microglia in Glioblastoma Microenvironment Cancers 2022 (I.F. 6.639).
16. Marrocco F., Delli Carpini M., Garofalo S.,…Limatola C. Short-chain fatty acids promote the effect of environmental signals on the gut microbiome and metabolome in mice Communications Biology 2022 (I.F. 6.268).
17. Morotti M., Garofalo S., Cocozza G., Antonangeli F.,…Grassi F. Muscle damage in dystrophic mdx mice is influenced by the activity of Ca2+-activated KCa3.1 channels Life 2022 (I.F. 3.817).
18. Basilico B.*, Ferrucci L.*, Ratano P.*, Golia M.T., Grimaldi A., Rosito M., Ferretti V., Reverte I., Sanchini C., Marrone M.C., Giubettini M., De Turris V., Salerno D., Garofalo S., … Di Angelantonio S.*, Ragozzino D. * Microglia control glutamatergic synapses in the adult mouse hippocampus Glia 2022 (I.F. 7.452).
19. Corsi G.*, Picard K.*, Di Castro M.A.*, Garofalo S.,… Limatola C. Microglia modulate hippocampal synaptic transmission and sleep duration along the light/dark cycle Glia 2022 (I.F. 7.452).
20. Cocozza G., Garofalo S., Capitani R., D’Alessandro G., Limatola C. Microglial Potassium Channels: From Homeostasis to Neurodegeneration Biomolecules 2021 (I.F. 4.569).
21. Mormino A., Bernardini G., Cocozza G., Corbi N., Passananti C., Santoni A., Limatola C. * and Garofalo S*. Enriched environment cues suggest a new strategy to counteract glioma: engineered rAAV2-IL-15 microglia modulate tumor microenvironment Frontiers in Imm. 2021 (I.F. 7.561).
22. Cocozza G., Garofalo S., Morotti M., Chece G.,..Wulff H., Limatola C. The feeding behaviour of ALS mouse models is modulated by the Ca2+-activated KCa3.1 channel British Journal of Pharmacology 2021 (I.F. 8.739).
23. Picard K.*, Bisht K.*, Poggini S.*, Garofalo S., Golia M.T.,… Ragozzino D.*, Maggi L.*, Branchi I.*, Tremblay M.E.*. Microglial-glucocorticoid receptor depletion alters the response of hippocampal microglia and neurons in a chronic unpredictable mild stress paradigm in female mice Brain Behaviour and Immunity 2021 (I.F. 19.227).
24. Mormino A., Cocozza G., Fontemaggi G., Valente S., Esposito V., Santoro A., Bernardini G., Santoni A., Fazi F., Mai A., Limatola C.* and Garofalo S.* Histone-deacetylase 8 drives the immune response and the growth of glioma Glia 2021 (I.F. 7.452).
25. Naziris N., Pippa N., Sereti E., Chrysostomou V., Kędzierska M., Kajdanek J., Ionov M., Miłowska K., Balcerzak L., Garofalo S… Chimeric Stimuli‐Responsive Liposomes as Nanocarriers for the Delivery of the Anti‐Glioma Agent TRAM‐34 International Journal of Molecular Sciences IJMS 2021 (I.F. 4.556).
26. Chen J., Ellert-Miklaszewska A., Garofalo S., Dey A., Tang J., Jiang Y., Clément F., Marche P., Liu X., Kaminska B., Santoni A., Limatola C., Rossi J., Zhou J. *, Peng L.* Synthesis and use of an amphiphilic dendrimer for siRNA delivery into primary immune cells Nature Protocols 2020 (I.F. 11.334).
27. Garofalo S., Cocozza G, Porzia A, Inghilleri M, Raspa M, Scavizzi F, Aronica E, Bernardini G, Peng L, Ransohoff RM, Santoni A, Limatola C. Natural Killer Cells Modulate Motor Neuron-Immune Cell Cross Talk in Models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Nature Communications 2020 (I.F. 14.919).
28. Garofalo S., Picard K., Limatola C., Nadjar A., Pascual O., and Tremblay M.E. Role of Glia in the Regulation of Sleep in Health and Disease Comprehensive Physiology 2020 (I.F. 6.246).
29. Golia M.T., Poggini S., Alboni S., Garofalo S., Albanese N., Viglione A., Ajmone-Cat M.A., St-Pierre A., Brunello N., Limatola C., Branchi I., Maggi L. Interplay between inflammation and neural plasticity: Both immune activation and suppression impair LTP and BDNF expression Brain Behaviour and Immunity 2019 (I.F. 6.17).
30. Cocozza G., Di Castro M.A., Carbonari L., Grimaldi A., Antonangeli F., Garofalo S., Porzia A., Madonna M., Mainiero F., Santoni A., Grassi F., Wulff H., D'Alessandro G. & Limatola C. Ca2+-activated K+ channels modulate microglia affecting motor neuron survival in hSOD1G93A mice Brain Behaviour and Immunity 2018 (I.F. 6.30).
31. Garofalo S., Porzia A., Mainiero F., et al., Environmental stimuli shape microglial plasticity in glioma eLife 2017 (I.F. 7.725).
32. Garofalo S., Grimaldi A., Chece G., Porzia A., Morrone S., Mainiero F., Esposito V., Cortese B., Rosa A., Di Angelantonio S., Trettel F., Limatola C. The glycoside oleandrin reduces glioma growth with direct and indirect effects on tumor cells J. Neurosci 2017 (I.F. 5.988).
33. Milior G., DiCastro MA., Sciarra L., Garofalo S., Branchi I., Ragozzino D., Limatola C. & Maggi L. Electrophysiological Properties of CA1 Pyramidal Neurons along the Longitudinal Axis of the Mouse Hippocampus Scientific Reports 2016 (I.F. 5.228).
34. Alboni S.*, Poggini S.*, Garofalo S., Milior G., El Hajj H., Lecours C., Girard I., Gagnon S., Boisjoly-Villeneuve S., Brunello N., Wolfer DP., Limatola C., Tremblay ME., Maggi L., Branchi I. Fluoxetine treatment affects the inflammatory response and microglial function according to the quality of the living environment. Brain, Behav. Immun. 2016 (I.F. 5.964).
35. Pagani F., Paolicelli R., Murana E., Cortese B., Di Angelantonio S., Zurolo E., Guiducci E., Ferreira T., Garofalo S., Catalano M., D’Alessandro G., Porzia A., Peruzzi G., Mainiero F., Limatola C., Gross C., Ragozzino D. Defective microglial development in the hippocampus of Cx3cr1 deficient mice Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 2015 (I.F. 4.609).
36. Garofalo S., D'alessandro G., Chece G., Brau F., Maggi L., Rosa A., Porzia A., Mainiero F., Esposito V., Lauro C., Benigni G., Bernardini G., Santoni A., Limatola C. Enriched environment reduces glioma growth through immune and non immune mechanisms in mice Nature Communications 2015 (I.F. 11.470).

Patents:
• TRATTAMENTO DEL TUMORE CEREBRALE deposit number n.102015000086815 National Patent deposit date 22.12.2015.

• INIBITORE DEL RECETTORE GFRAL PER USO NEL TRATTAMENTO DELLA SCLEROSI LATERALE AMIOTROFICA deposit number n. 102023000006387 National Patent deposit date 31.03.2023.

Congress Organization:

• Organizer of the scientific online mini-symposium entitled "Glial cells crosstalk with neurons in physiological and pathological conditions" for the Italian Society of Physiology SIF, November 2023.

Oral Communications:

• Invited Speaker: Italian Society of Physiology Title: Platelets-derived serotonin tunes fear memory in mice, Sept 2024 Rome, Italy.
• Selected Speaker: ILC5 5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INNATE LYMPHOID CELLS Conference Title: Unravelling Natural Killer cell influence on neuronal dynamics in Glioblastoma, July 2024 Cambridge, UK.
• Invited Speaker: EpiEpinet Ionic channels and their implication in epilepsy and other neurological diseases Title: Role of Innate Immunity in Glioma-related Epilepsy, Feb 2024 Rome, Italy.
• Invited Speaker: A scientist like me: giovani ricercatori si raccontano attraverso le loro scoperte e i loro percorsi, Title: Natural Killer cells ‐ Microglia interplay: a protective or destructive dialogue for the brain?, May 2022 University of Molise, Italy.
• Invited Speaker: Epileptogenesis and Epilepsy Network, Title: Mouse models to study glioma-associated epilepsy, May 2022 Lisbon, Portugal.
• Invited Speaker: Cancer-2021 at the upcoming 8th International Meet on Cancer & Radiology, October 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.
• Invited Speaker: Role of microglia in brain tumors. XIX National Congress SINS, Sept 2021, Brescia, Italy.
• Invited Speaker: Natural Killer cells modulate motor neuron-immune cell cross talk in models of ALS. 40° SIF (Società Italiana di Farmacologia) congress, March 2021, digital edition.
• Invited Speaker: Environmental stimuli instruct innate immune system to fight brain tumors. CRiN Neuroscience Seminar, Sapienza University of Rome, March 2019, Rome, Italy.
• Selected Speaker: Environmental stimuli shape microglial plasticity in glioma More than neuron Congress, Dec 2018, Turin, Italy.
• Invited Speaker: Role of NK cells in ALS. ARISLA (Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca sulla Sclerosi Laterale Amiotrofica) Congress, Sept 2018, Genova, Italy.
• Selected Speaker: Environmental stimuli shape microglial plasticity in glioma. Microglia EMBO Congress, Mar 2018, Heiselberg, Germany.
• Invited Speaker: Fluoxetine counteracts the opposite effects of stress and enrichment on the inflammatory response and microglial status. XVII National Congress SINS, Sept 2017, Ischia, Italy.
• Selected Speaker: Environmental stimuli via Interleukin-15 drive interplay between NK cell and microglia reducing glioma growth in vivo. XXVI AINI Congress and ESNI 16th course, June 2017, Venice, Italy.
• Invited Speaker: New strategies to fight against glioblastoma: reprogramming the innate immune system. Seminary at Department of Neurobiology, May 2017, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio.
• Selected Speaker: Effect of environmental enrichment on glioblastoma progression: can it suggest a new therapy? 7° Young Research Meeting, The Physiological Society of Italy SIF, May 2013, Anacapri, Italy.