Absinta Martina RicercatoreMedicina

A subset of people with multiple sclerosis experience neurodegenerative processes leading to progressive accumulation of motor and cognitive disability, especially after the fifth decade, unrelated to the occurrence of new clinical relapses and unresponsive to the currently available treatments. Clinical progression in multiple sclerosis is likely the complex result of the accumulation of neuro-axonal loss in a lifelong inflammatory and compartmentalized central nervous system environment and the relative un-balance among injury, attempt to repair and individual functional reserve in the context of an aging brain (Absinta et al., Curr Opin Neurol 2020).

I think that the pathobiological understanding and radiological visualization of chronic inflammation in multiple sclerosis can lead towards new classes of treatment (i.e., targeting the glial response), and novel-designed MRI-based clinical trials with the aim at limiting chronic inflammation and, potentially, progression. For these reasons, my research activity focuses on to disentangle this complexity using a variety of research instruments, spanning from in vivo to postmortem MRI-neuropathology correlations, including single cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics, to in vitro cellular modeling using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived 3D cell cultures (BrainSpheres).

 

Education

2000-2006       Medicine and Surgery, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

2007-2012       Residency in Neurology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

2013-2016       International PhD in Molecular Medicine-Experimental Neurology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

 

Professional experience

2012-2016       Visiting research fellow, Translational Neuroradiology Unit, NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, USA

2016-2019       Research fellowship, Translational Neuroradiology Section, NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, USA

2019-2020       Assistant Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA

2021-              Adjunct Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA

2020-              Research associate, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

2021-              Neurologist, Research associate, IRCSS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy

Editorial board member of Neurology Clinical Practice (2022) and Guest Editor for NeuroImage Clinical (2021)

 

Grants

02/2016-01/2019 National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) #FG 2093-A-1            

07/2017-06/2023 Conrad N. Hilton Foundation - Bridging Award for Physician-Scientists #17313

07/2020-01/2023 Roche Foundation (Bando Roche per la Ricerca 2019)

11/2020-10/2023 Cariplo Foundation #2019-1677

07/2021-07/2023 International Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Alliance PA-2107-38081

06/2021-06/2024 Fondazione Regionale Ricerca Biomedica (FRRB) Early Career Award #1750327

 

Awards

2009    Award for best poster - Italian Society of Neurology

2016    Award for best paper with impact factor between 10 and 20 - Italian Society of Neurology

2018    NIH Fellow Award for Research Excellence competition, Bethesda, USA

2021    Rita-Levi Montalcini Prize 2021 – Italian MS Society (FISM/AISM)

2022    Young Physician-Scientist 2022 Award - The American Society for Clinical Investigation

 

Selected publications

1. Absinta M, Maric D, Gharagozloo M, Garton T, Smith MD, Jin J, Fitzgerald KC, Song A, Liu P, Lin JP, Wu T, Johnson KR, McGavern DB, Schafer DP, Calabresi PA, Reich DS. A lymphocyte-microglia-astrocyte axis in chronic active multiple sclerosis. Nature. 2021 Sep 8. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03892-7.
2. Maggi, P., P. Sati, G. Nair, I.C.M. Cortese, S. Jacobson, B.R. Smith, A. Nath, J. Ohayon, V. van Pesch, G. Perrotta, C. Pot, M. Theaudin, V. Martinelli, R. Scotti, T. Wu, R. Du Pasquier, P.A. Calabresi, M. Filippi, D.S. Reich, and   Absinta M. Paramagnetic Rim Lesions are Specific to Multiple Sclerosis: An International Multicenter 3T MRI Study. Annals of Neurolology, 2020.
3. Absinta, M., H. Lassmann, and B.D. Trapp, Mechanisms underlying progression in multiple sclerosis. Curr Opin Neurol, 2020. 33(3): p. 277-285.
4. Maggi P, Kuhle J, Schädelin S, van der Meer F, Weigel M, Galbusera R, Mathias A, Lu PJ, Rahmanzadeh R, Benkert P, La Rosa F, Bach Cuadra M, Sati P, Théaudin M, Pot C, van Pesch V, Leppert D, Stadelmann C, Kappos L, Du Pasquier R, Reich DS, Absinta M*, Granziera C* (co-last authors). Chronic White Matter Inflammation and Serum Neurofilament Levels in Multiple Sclerosis. Neurology. 2021 Aug 10;97(6):e543-e553.
5. Absinta, M., P. Sati, F. Masuzzo, G. Nair, V. Sethi, H. Kolb, J. Ohayon, T. Wu, I.C.M. Cortese, and D.S. Reich, Association of Chronic Active Multiple Sclerosis Lesions With Disability In Vivo. JAMA Neurology, 2019. 76(12): p. 1474-1483.
6. Absinta, M., S.K. Ha, G. Nair, P. Sati, N.J. Luciano, M. Palisoc, A. Louveau, K.A. Zaghloul, S. Pittaluga, J. Kipnis, and D.S. Reich, Human and nonhuman primate meninges harbor lymphatic vessels that can be visualized noninvasively by MRI. Elife, 2017. 6.
7. Absinta, M., P. Sati, M. Schindler, E.C. Leibovitch, J. Ohayon, T. Wu, A. Meani, M. Filippi, S. Jacobson, I.C. Cortese, and D.S. Reich, Persistent 7-tesla phase rim predicts poor outcome in new multiple sclerosis patient lesions. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2016. 126(7): p. 2597-609.
8. Absinta, M., P. Sati, and D.S. Reich, Advanced MRI and staging of multiple sclerosis lesions. Nature Review Neurology, 2016. 12(6): p. 358-68.
9. Absinta, M., L. Vuolo, A. Rao, G. Nair, P. Sati, I.C. Cortese, J. Ohayon, K. Fenton, M.I. Reyes-Mantilla, D. Maric, P.A. Calabresi, J.A. Butman, C.A. Pardo, and D.S. Reich, Gadolinium-based MRI characterization of leptomeningeal inflammation in multiple sclerosis. Neurology, 2015. 85(1): p. 18-28.
10. Absinta, M., G. Nair, M. Filippi, A. Ray-Chaudhury, M.I. Reyes-Mantilla, C.A. Pardo, and D.S. Reich, Postmortem magnetic resonance imaging to guide the pathologic cut: individualized, 3-dimensionally printed cutting boxes for fixed brains. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol, 2014. 73(8): p. 780-8.
11. Absinta, M., P. Sati, M.I. Gaitan, P. Maggi, I.C. Cortese, M. Filippi, and D.S. Reich, Seven-tesla phase imaging of acute multiple sclerosis lesions: a new window into the inflammatory process. Annals of Neurology, 2013. 74(5): p. 669-78.

 

For full bibliography:

https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0003-0276-383X

https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=18436249500

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=absinta&sort=date