Team

Understanding how our body works always fascinated me, so I decided to study Biomedical Sciences (Fribourg & Bern, Switzerland). A transforming lecture about electrophysiology by Hugues Abriel led to a clear decision: I wanted to learn how to record cellular activity and use this knowledge to study the brain. I first went to the Abriel lab for my Master thesis and learned patch clamp, and then joined the lab of Thomas Münch in Tübingen, Germany, to study the retina in various species and in different contexts. Like many other retina scientists, I decided that everything after the retina might actually be an interesting black box and hence joined Karl Farrow in Leuven, Belgium, to gain insights into how information from the retina is used to guide innate behaviors. Connecting what I learned about adaptation in the retina with my knowledge about circuits through the superior colliculus that mediate innate behaviors, is the basis of my research program on flexibility in the visuo-motor system.

When I'm not in the lab or writing grants, I like to dance salsa and forro, hike or ski in the mountains, and discuss everything and nothing over delicious food. 

Contact: katja.reinhard[at]sissa.it     CV   ResearchGate   Twitter Mastodon  GoogleScholar   BlueSky 

To briefly introduce myself, I am a highly motivated and passionate Neuroscientist. Since my first steps in the academic world, I knew that research would become my main goal in my future carrier. Because of this, I pursued my bachelor’s degree at University of Milan in Medical Biotechnology, that allowed me to approach to my great passion: Neuroscience. This interest led me to continue my studies at the University of Trieste, enrolling in the International Master’s Degree programme in Neuroscience. I wrote my master thesis project on Parkinson’s disease and specifically on “Corticostriatal activity maps in a mouse model of dopaminergic dyskinesia”. My thesis is the outcome of a year of research experience as intern at the Basal Ganglia Pathophysiology Unit, laboratory focused on neuropharmacology at the Lund University (Sweden) under the supervision of Prof. Angela Cenci Nilsson. After graduation I spent another year In Sweden in the same lab to continue my projects as project assistant. Thanks to this challenging period abroad, I acquired enough laboratory experience which includes working with mice, immunohistochemical protocols and fluorescence microscopy. Currently, my love for Trieste and Neuroscience research intersects at Sissa where I had the possibility to enrol as PhD student in the Flexibility in Circuits & Behaviour lab of Professor Katja Reinhard focusing my future research on brain circuits in vivo on adapted and innate behaviours.

When I’m not in the lab, I’m probably at the gym doing CrossFit or running.  

Contact: clodetti[at]sissa.it    CV

Projects: ERG "FLEXIN" -  focus on evolution of innate behaviours and underlying circuits

Fear responses in prion protein-deficient mice (collaboration with Legname Lab)

Time in the lab: November 2023 - 

After completing my master´s degree in Neuroscience, I embarked on my first real lab experience, moving from Trieste to Lund, Sweden. It was in Angela Cenci-Nilsson´s lab where I really dived in the magic world of patch-clamp. After this experience I decided I wanted to be a researcher so in 2016, I started my PhD at the University of Innsbruck under the supervision of Alexandra Koschak and, jointly, the Marie Sklodowska Curie ITN network “SwitchBoard” which connected several lab around Europe to study the light transmission pathways in the retina. Later on, I continued my postdoc in Jörg Striessnig´s lab, studying the biophysical properties of heterologous expressed L-type calcium channels. My scientific journey has led me to the conclusion that my passion for recording anything that shows an ionic current knows no bounds – location, shape, and species are just details! Now, I am happy to continue my research journey by joining Katja Reinhard´s lab in SISSA, and to focus on the visuo-motor circuitry in the brain.

When I am not in the lab, you´ll likely find me learning something new (anything!) or taking long walks surrounded by nature. And let´s not forget the joy of indulging in a slice of homemade cake afterwards! 

Contact:  lucia.zanetti[at]sissa.it

Projects: ERG "FLEXIN" 

Time in the lab: April 2024 -