De Gregorio Danilo Professore AssociatoMedicineBIO/14 - Farmacologia

Danilo De Gregorio obtained a Pharm.D. degree from the University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy, followed by a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the University of Campania “Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal (QC), Canada under the supervisions of Prof. Gabriella Gobbi and Prof.  Nahum Sonenberg. In March 2021, he relocated back to Italy where he has been appointed Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Project Leader of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute.  By combining cutting-edge in vivo behavioral and electrophysiological techniques in animal models, Danilo has made contributions to the understanding of the psychopharmacology of psychoactive compounds including hallucinogens and cannabinoids and their role in mental disorders.  His work has been published in relevant scientific journals (including Nature, PNAS, Nature Communications). He has received numerous awards for his work including grants from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), the Fonds pour la recherche en Santé du Québec and the Italian Ministry of the University and Research. Since March 2024, he holds the position of Associated Professor in Pharmacology at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University.

Unique identifiers

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8623-0661

Scopus Author ID: 54786305300

Education

2015   Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology, University of Campania “Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy.

2013   Masters’ Degree in Pharmacy, University of Naples “Federico II”.

Positions and Training

2021 – present   Project Leader, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (IT)

2015 – 2021   Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal (QC), Canada (Supervisors: Profs Gabriella Gobbi and Nahum Sonenberg)

Honors and Awards

2020 FRQS (Fonds pour la recherche en Santé du Québec)

2020 Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders: Young Investigator Prize

2019 Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)

2018 Pioneers and Prodigies, International Society for Serotonin Research

2016 Merit Scholarship Program for Foreign Students (PBEEE), Canada

Journal Reviewer: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, British Journal of Pharmacology, Pain, Brain Communications.

Grant Reviewer: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Teaching experience

2024-currently   Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

2021- 2024   Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

Consultantship and Advisory Board

Diamond Therapeutics Inc., Toronto (ON), Canada.

Onofrj M, Russo M, Delli Pizzi S, De Gregorio D, Inserra A, Gobbi G, Sensi SL. The central role of the Thalamus in psychosis, lessons from neurodegenerative diseases and psychedelics. Translational Psychiatry. 2023 Dec 13;13(1):384.

Inserra A., Giorgini G., Lacroix S., Bertazzo A., Choo J., Markopolous A., Grant E., Abolghasemi A., De Gregorio D., Flamand N., Rogers G., Comai S., Silvestri C., Gobbi G., Di Marzo V. (2023). Effects of repeated lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on the mouse brain endocannabinoidome and gut microbiome. BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY, vol. 180, p. 721-739,

ISSN: 0007-1188, doi: 10.1111/bph.15977

De Gregorio D, Inserra A, Enns JP, Markopoulos A, Pileggi M, El Rahimy Y, Lopez-Canul M, Comai S, Gobbi G. Repeated lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) reverses stress-induced anxiety-like behavior, cortical synaptogenesis deficits and serotonergic neurotransmission decline. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2022 Mar 17:1-1. 

De Gregorio D, Popic J, Enns JP, Inserra A, Skalecka A, Markopoulos A, Posa L, Lopez-Canul M, Qianzi H, Lafferty CK, Britt JP. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) promotes social behavior through mTORC1 in the excitatory neurotransmission. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2021 Feb 2;118(5):e2020705118.

Aguilar-Valles A, De Gregorio D, Matta-Camacho E, Eslamizade MJ, Khlaifia A, Skaleka A, Lopez-Canul M, Torres-Berrio A, Bermudez S, Rurak GM, Simard S. Antidepressant actions of ketamine engage cell-specific translation via eIF4E. Nature. 2021 Feb;590(7845):315-9.

De Gregorio D, Aguilar-Valles A, Preller KH, Heifets BD, Hibicke M, Mitchell J, Gobbi G. Hallucinogens in mental health: preclinical and clinical studies on LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and ketamine. Journal of Neuroscience. 2021 Feb 3;41(5):891-900.

Inserra A, De Gregorio D, Gobbi G. Psychedelics in psychiatry: neuroplastic, immunomodulatory, and neurotransmitter mechanisms. Pharmacological Reviews. 2021 Jan 1;73(1):202-77.

De Gregorio D, Dean Conway J, Lopez-Canul M, Posa L, Bambico F, Gobbi G. Effects of chronic exposure to low dose of Δ9- tetrahydrocannabinol in adolescence and adulthood on serotonin/norepinephrine neurotransmission and emotional behaviors. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 2020. doi: 10.1093/ijnp/pyaa058.

Bambico FR, Li Z, Creed M, De Gregorio D, Diwan M, Li J, McNeill S, Gobbi G, Raymond R, Nobrega JN. The small conductance, calcium-activated potassium channel, a key regulator of cortical neuronal firing, mediates rapid antidepressant action. Cerebral Cortex 2020 Mar 14;30(3):1559-1572. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhz187.

Comai S, De Gregorio D, Posa L, Ochoa-Sanchez R, Gobbi G. Dysfunction of serotonergic activity and emotional responses across the light-dark cycle in mice lacking MT2 receptors. Journal of Pineal Research 2020 Apr 1:e12653. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12653.

Posa L, Lopez-Canul M, Rullo L, De Gregorio D, Dominguez-Lopez S, Kaba Aboud M, Caputi FF, Candeletti S, Romualdi P, Gobbi G. Nociceptive responses in MT2 receptor knockout mice and comparison with MT1 and double MT1/MT2 receptor knockout mice. Journal of Pineal Research 2020. May 19:e12671. doi: 10.1111/jpi.12671.

Guida F, De Gregorio D, Palazzo E, Ricciardi F, Boccella S, Belardo C, Iannotta M, Infantino R, Formato F, Marabese I, Luongo L, de Novellis V, Maione S. Behavioral, Biochemical and Electrophysiological Changes in Spared Nerve Injury Model of Neuropathic Pain. International Journal of Molecular Science. 2020 May 11;21(9):3396. doi: 10.3390/ijms21093396.

Medeiros P, de Freitas RL, Boccella S, Iannotta M, Belardo C, Mazzitelli M, Romano R, De Gregorio D, Coimbra NC, Palazzo E, Maione S. Characterization of the sensory, affective, cognitive, biochemical, and neuronal alterations in a modified chronic constriction injury model of neuropathic pain in mice. J Neurosci Res. 2020 Feb;98(2):338-352. doi: 10.1002/jnr.24501. Epub 2019 Aug 8.

De Gregorio D, McLaughlin RJ, Posa L, Ochoa-Sanchez R, Enns J; Lopez-Canul M, Aboud M, Maione S, Comai S, Gobbi G. (2019). Cannabidiol modulates serotonergic transmission and reverts both allodynia and anxiety-like behavior in a model of neuropathic pain. Pain. August 27 doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001386.

De Gregorio D, Manchia M, Carpiniello B, Valtorta F, Nobile M, Gobbi G, Comai S. Role Of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) In depression: Translational evidence. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2019. pii: S0165-0327(18)31599-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.10.117.

Boccella S, Guida F, De Logu F, De Gregorio D, Mazzitelli M, Belardo C, Iannotta M, Serra N, Nassini R, de Novellis V, Geppetti P, Maione S, Luongo L. (2018). Ketones and pain: unexplored role of hydroxyl carboxylic acid receptor type 2 in the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain. FASEB Journal. August 7. fj201801033R. doi: 10.1096/fj.201801033R

Aguilar-Valles A, Haji N, De Gregorio D, Matta-Camacho E, Eslamizade MJ, Popic J, Sharma V, Cao R, Rummel C, Tanti A, Wiebe S, Nu.ez N, Comai S, Nadon R, Luheshi G, Mechawar N, Turecki G, Lacaille JC, Gobbi G, Sonenberg N. (2018). Translational control of depression-like behavior via phosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor. Nature Communications.9(1): 24. Jun 25;9(1):2459. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04883-5.

Guida F, Turco F, Iannotta M, De Gregorio D, Palumbo I, Sarnelli G, Furiano A, Napolitano F, Boccella S, Luongo L, Mazzitelli M, Usiello A, De Filippis F, Iannotti FA, Piscitelli F, Ercolini D, de Novellis V, Di Marzo V, Cuomo R, Maione S. Antibiotic-induced microbiota perturbation causes gut endocannabinoidome changes, hippocampal neuroglial reorganization and depression in mice. Brain Behav Immun. 2018 Jan; 67:230-245. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2017.09.001

Posa L, De Gregorio D, Gobbi G, Comai S. Targeting melatonin MT2 receptors: A novel pharmacological avenue for inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Current Medicinal Chemistry. 2018. doi: 10.2174/0929867324666170209104926.

Guida F, Boccella S, Iannotta M, De Gregorio D, Giordano C, Belardo C, Romano R, Palazzo E, Scafuro MA, Serra N, de Novellis V, Rossi F, Maione S, Luongo L. Palmitoylethanolamide Reduces Neuropsychiatric Behaviors by Restoring Cortical Electrophysiological Activity in a Mouse Model of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2017 Mar 6; 8:95. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00095.

De Gregorio D, Comai S, Posa L and Gabriella Gobbi. D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) as a model of psychosis: Mechanism of action and pharmacology. International Journal of Molecular Science. 2016 Nov 23;17(11). pii: E1953. Review.

De Gregorio D, Posa L, Ochoa-Sanchez R, McLaughlin R, Maione S, Comai S, Gobbi G (2016). The hallucinogen d-lysergic diethylamide (LSD) decreases dopamine firing activity through 5-HT1A, D2 and TAAR1 receptors. Pharmacological Research. Aug 17;113 (Pt A):81-91.

Guida F, Luongo L, Marmo F, Romano R, Iannotta M, Napolitano F, Belardo C, Marabese I,D'Aniello A, De Gregorio D, Rossi F, Piscitelli F, Lattanzi R, de Bartolomeis A, Usiello A, Di Marzo V, de Novellis V, Maione S (2015). Palmitoylethanolamide reduces pain-related behaviors and restores glutamatergic synapses homeostasis in the medial prefrontal cortex of neuropathic mice. Molecular Brain. Aug 12; 8:47.

Imperatore R, Morello G, Luongo L, Taschler U, Romano R, De Gregorio D, Belardo C, Maione S, Di Marzo V, Cristino L (2015). Genetic deletion of monoacylglycerol lipase leads to impaired cannabinoid receptor CB1 R signaling and anxiety-like behavior. Journal of Neurochemistry.135(4):799-813.

Palazzo E, Romano R, Luongo L, Boccella S, De Gregorio D, Giordano ME, Rossi F, Marabese I, Scafuro MA, de Novellis V, Maione S. MMPIP, an mGluR7-selective negative allosteric modulator, alleviates pain and normalizes affective and cognitive behavior in neuropathic mice. Pain. 2015 Jun;156(6):1060-73. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000150.

Maione S, Radanova L, De Gregorio D, Luongo L, De Petrocellis L, Di Marzo V, Imming P. Effects of metabolites of the analgesic agent dipyrone (metamizol) on rostral ventromedial medulla cell activity in mice. Europen Journal of Pharmacology. 2015 Feb 5;748:115-22. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2014.12.022. Epub 2014 Dec 31.

Rossi F, Marabese I, De Chiaro M, Boccella S, Luongo L, Guida F, De Gregorio D, Giordano C, de Novellis V, Palazzo E, Maione S. Dorsal striatum metabotropic glutamate receptor 8 affects nocifensive responses and rostral ventromedial medulla cell activity in neuropathic pain conditions. Journal of Neurophysiology. 2014 Jun 1;111(11):2196-209. doi: 10.1152/jn.00212.2013. Epub 2013 Dec 4.