Name: Marina Grandis

My Area of Interest: Neurogenetics

My Favourite Quote:  ”The Brain is wider than the Sky” by Emily Dickinson

I am a: post-doc at Department of Neurosciences, Ophthalmolgy and Genetics, University of Genova

Short Profile:

Question and Answers :

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research going?:
I would like to develop specific treatments for inherited neuropathies, in particular those caused b Myelin Protein Zero (MPZ) Mutations. Some mutations are mistrafficked and cause a decrease of cell viability. For those mutations we are trying drugs able to mitigate the mutated protein retention into the endoplasmic reticulum. Other mutations do reach the cellular membrane and cause a defect in myelin packaging. I think that those mutations may be traeted by specific anti-sense RNA to decrease the mutated allele expression. Indeed, having only one allele for MPZ, is associated to a very mild neuropathy.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
Anti-sense RNA, Immunolectro-microscopy; viral vectors

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
My research may help do develop therapies for inherited neuropathies caused by AD hinerited mutations.

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
I think that a very promising field is the study of DNA methylation and imbalanced allelic expression which might explain why, in spite of carrying the same mutations, different patients, even within the same family, may develop a variably severe phenotype