Alessandra Folci is a molecular and cellular neuroscientist with a career fully dedicated to deciphering mechanisms underlying mental disorders. In 2012, she received her PhD in Biotechnology under the supervision of Dr Passafaro at the University of Milano, where she developed a solid expertise in molecular and cellular neuroscience. From 2014 to 2019, she worked as postdoc at the Medical University of Graz (Austria) and at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology (CNRS, France). During this period, she mastered imaging and biochemistry approaches to tackle the trafficking of membrane and assembling of excitatory synapses. She also acquired a deep knowledge on neuronal sumoylation during her postdoc in Dr Martin’s lab, a leader in the field.

In 2019, she returned to Italy supported by the prestigious Marie Sklowdowska-Curie Individual Fellowship in the team of Prof Matteoli. In September 2021 she has been recruited as independent investigator at the Institute of Neuroscience of the CNR (IN-CNR), where she just stated defining her research line focused on sumoylation in neuronal physiology and brain pathology.

Her research is founded, among others, by Jérôme Lejeune foundation, European Commission and Italian Ministry of Health.