ERC: Diana Piol

Diana Piol is a Researcher and Young Principal Investigator at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Padova. She obtained in 2014 the Master degree in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology and in 2018 a PhD in Biomolecular Sciences, both at the University of Trento, where she studied the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in the context of Parkinson’s disease and spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). In 2020, she moved to Belgium to pursue a postdoctoral training at VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain and Disease Research to expand her knowledge on the mechanisms leading to axonal degeneration and neuromuscular junction (NMJ) denervation, early pathological events of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other motor neuron diseases. In particular, she was interested in understanding how ALS-linked mutations in FUS lead to impaired local axonal translation, a potential mechanism triggering NMJ degeneration.  In 2023 and 2024, she won the STARS Starting Grant from the University of Padua, the MDA Development grant (USA) and AFM-Telethon Trampoline Grant (France) to expand her research line on the synaptic and axonal mechanisms which lead to the development of ALS and SBMA to identify potential therapeutic targets. Her research aims to facilitate the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for motor neuron diseases by integrating in vitro and in vivo experimental models with advanced spatial ‘omics and single-cell sequencing technologies.