Malgaroli Antonio Professore ordinarioPsychologyBIO/09

Full Professor of Physiology

EDUCATION

1985      Università Degli Studi di Milano, M.D. (Major in Pharmacology)

1985      Università Degli Studi di Milano, Board certified in Medicine

1990      Università Degli Studi di Milano, Postgraduate Degree in Psychiatry

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

2016-present    Clinical appointment as a Psychiatric Consultant at the Ospedale Ville Turro San Raffaele, Psychiatric Clinics, Center for Eating Disorders and OCD, Milano

2004-present    Full Professor of Physiology, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano

1999-2003           Associate Professor of Physiology, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano

2000-Summer   MBL investigator, Marine Biological Laboratories, MBL, Woods Hole

1999-Summer MBL investigator, Marine Biological Laboratories, MBL, Woods Hole

1999-2009           Adjunct Professor in Physiology, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Milano

1993-present    Director of the  “Neurobiology  of  Learning” Unit, DIBIT,  Scientific Institute  San Raffaele, Milano

1989-1993           Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University, Stanford

1988-1989           Visiting fellow, Department  of  Physiology,  School of  Biology,  University Degli Studi di  Milano, Milano

1985‑1988           Postdoctoral  fellow,  Department  of  Pharmacology,  School  of  Medicine, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Milano

1985‑1989           Clinical  fellow in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Postgraduate Degree in Psychiatry,  Department  of  Psychiatry,  School  of  Medicine, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Milano

1982-1985           Junior Research Fellow,  Department  of  Pharmacology,  School  of  Medicine, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Milano

1983-Summer   Visiting Student, Department of Neurological Sciences, School of Medicine, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh

 

HONORS AND AWARDS

1985-88                Recipient of the AIRC research fellowship

1988-89                Recipient of the Monte Tabor research fellowship

1988                      DeVisart  award

1989-91                Recipient of the G. Moruzzi FIDIA research fellowship

1991                      Chemofux prize, University of Vienna (Co-Recipient with Anna Teti)

1998-2001           Human Frontier grant award

1999                      Herbert W. Rand Award, MBL

2000                      Frank Lillie Award, MBL

2000                      Elected as a member of the Physiological Society London

2000                      Elected as a member of EMBO

RESEARCH INTERESTS

How is our brain modified by experience, sensory deprivation, drugs and diseases? It is unquestionable that behind any behavior there are molecular and functional changes in synapses and synaptic circuits. Despite in the last 20 years we have been spectators of an incredible progress in the elucidation of the molecular machinery of synapses, the exact functional mechanisms behind synaptic communication and plasticity are still largely unknown. This partial failure has indeed some solid grounds. Even today, brain synapses are approached very indirectly because of the very small size (less than 1 micron), because they produce small signals (a few picoAmps), and are difficult to access, being located on thin and complex dendritic cables, also being highly heterogeneous in structure and biochemical composition. To overcome some of these limitations, our lab is trying to develop novel electrophysiological and molecular tools for the investigation of synapses. Among our current research interests: i) Defining the nature of the basic parameters of quantal transmission and how these are changed by plasticity processes; ii) Understanding the mechanisms of LTP maintenance in the hippocampus; iii) Investigate  medial Prefrontal Cortex circuitry and its role in decisional processes; iv) Validate a novel and efficient tool recently developed in our lab, the Synaptozip-Synbond pair, which can report the activity of individual synaptic boutons in the in vivo brain.