Giuffrida Maria Laura

Maria Laura Giuffrida is a Senior Researcher at  the Institute of Crystallography (IC-CNR) in Catania. In 2001, she obtained her Degree (M.Sc. equivalent) in Biological Sciences, specializing in Molecular Biology, from the University of Catania, with a thesis titled “Identification and control of a hospital outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: proposal for an active surveillance protocol.” She then moved to Rome to work at the “Enea Casaccia” Research Center. Initially joining the Bio-Ag Division, she acquired expertise in plant-applied biotechnology techniques. She subsequently transitioned to the Bio-Tec-Med Division, experiencing a stimulating and highly professional environment where she mastered core cellular, molecular, and biochemical techniques applied to the study of human neuroblastoma.

In 2004, she joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Catania, focusing for the first time on neuroscience and Alzheimer’s disease. This field subsequently became her primary line of research and core scientific interest to this day. In 2005, she began her Ph.D. program in Neurobiology, during which she moved to the United States as a visiting researcher at the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine (UCI)—an institution renowned for developing the 3xTg-AD transgenic mouse model widely used in Alzheimer’s research.

Upon returning to Italy, she continued her work on Alzheimer’s disease, specifically investigating the poorly understood physiological role of the Beta-amyloid peptide. In 2015, she was awarded a SIR 2014 (Scientific Independence of Young Researchers) grant for the project titled “Learning from diabetes to treat Alzheimer’s disease: a role for HSP60 in the regulation of brain IGF-I receptor signaling.” Through this funding, she held a position as a tenure-track/fixed-term Researcher (RTD) at the CNR Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging (IBB) in Catania.

Since 2018, she has been a permanent Researcher at the National Research Council (CNR), based at the Catania subseat of the Institute of Crystallography, where she currently serves as a Senior Researcher.

• Preparation of primary cultures: Isolation and cultivation of pure cortical neurons or mixed neuron/glia cultures derived from rat embryos.

• Cell culture management: Maintenance and utilization of continuous cell lines, primarily of neuronal origin.

• Amyloid-Beta characterization: Preparation and biophysical/biochemical characterization of distinct assembly states of the $\beta$-amyloid peptide (monomers, oligomers, and fibrils).

• Molecular neuroscience: Expertise in investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying apoptosis and neuronal survival pathways.

• In vivo models: Utilization of transgenic mouse models for the study of Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis.

-University of Catania (UniCT)- Dept of Drug and Health Science (DSFS)

-University of Malaga (UMA) – Dept. of Cell Biology, Genetics and Physiology:

-CNR- Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), Catania

-University of Catania (UniCT)- Dept of BIOMETEC