We are interested in molecular mechanisms specifying embryonic cortico-cerebral precursors and regulating their proliferation-differentiation profile.
Our work is mainly focussed on a small set of evolutionarily conserved transcription factor genes involved in these processes. We are dissecting their impact on the behaviour of cortico-cerebral neural stem cells and committed progenitors, in normal development and select neurodevelopmental disorders. Moreover we are working at ncRNA-based methodologies, aimed at stimulating transcription of endogenous genes for therapy of haploinsufficiencies.
The achievement of these goals relies on the integrated employment of a large body of classical and state-of-art technologies. Strong emphasis is placed on creative and critical contibution by young, intellectually independent PhD students, in charge of these projects.