Laura Cancedda

Laura Cancedda graduated in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Genoa in 1999, with a thesis on the role of neurotrophic factors on neurotransmitter release. She received her Ph.D. in neurophysiology from Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa, Italy) in 2003, under the supervision of Dr. Lamberto Maffei. In Pisa, she investigated the molecular and environmental basis of experience-dependent plasticity in the rat brain. In 2003, she moved to University of California at Berkeley in Dr. Poo’s laboratory where she focused her studies on molecular mechanisms of GABAergic-transmission modulation. Starting in 2006, she has also started a collaboration on a project aimed at studying early determinants of neuronal polarization.

Currently, she holds a team-leader position at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa and a scientist position at the Telethon Dulbecco Institute. Laura is also a scholar of the FENS KAVLI network of excellence. Her research focuses on the role of extracellular factors such as GABA in neurogenesis, migration and morphological maturation of cortical neurons under physiological as well as pathological conditions.

In 2021, Laura launched the start-up IAMA Therapeutics, based on her research.

Laura comes from a neurophysiological and neuropharmacological background. The techniques applied in her laboratory include, among others,_in vitro_electrophysiology on brain slices and cell cultures,_in vivo_transfection of nucleic acids (_in utero_electroporation),_in vitro_and_in vivo_pharmacology, immunohistochemistry, and confocal imaging. She also has experience in rodent behavioral testing.