Legenda
Roberta Cascella graduated with highest marks in Medical Biotechnology at the University of Florence in 2008. She obtained the PhD in Biochemistry and Applied Biology at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Florence, in 2012. During the PhD her research activities focused on the study of the cytotoxic effect of aberrant protein oligomers in protein deposition diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In 2016 she obtained the Specialization Degree in Clinical Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Roma Tor Vergata. She has attained five years of Research fellowship (Assegno di Ricerca) at the University of Florence, in 2020 she became a Researcher (RTD-A) in Biochemistry (SSD BIO/10) and in 2022 she became a Researcher (RTD-B) in Biochemistry (SSD BIO/10). In 2018 she obtained the National Academic Qualification as Associate Professor (Settore: 05/E1, Fascia: 2) from the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research of Italy. She has more than 50 international publications (JCR) and her h index is 33. Her mayor interests focused on the relationships between structure and toxicity of aberrant protein aggregates involved in protein misfolded diseases and on the study of the degradation pathways of aggregated proteins, with the aim to identify novel approach against age-associated diseases and potential therapeuticmolecules for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. She is a member of the Italian Society of Biochemistry (SIB) and a board member of the Tuscany-Umbria-Marche Section (TUM) of SIB.
Education and training
September 2016 Postgraduate Specialisation School in “Clinical Biochemistry”, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy. Final
mark: 50/50.
March 2012 PhD in “Applied Biochemistry and Biology”, Dept. Biochemical Sciences, University of Florence, Italy.
December 2010 Qualified as a Professional Biologist, University of Florence, Italy.
December 2008 Master Degree in Medical Biotechnology, University of Florence, Italy. Final mark: 110/110 cum laude et
encomium.
Research experience
09/2022 – present Researcher (RTD-B) in Biochemistry (SSD BIO/10), Dept. Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences,
University of Florence, Italy.
03/2020 – 08/2022 Researcher (RTD-A) in Biochemistry (SSD BIO/10), Dept. Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences,
University of Florence, Italy
04/2016 – 02/2020 Research fellowship, Dept. Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Italy.
03/2014 – 02/2016 Research Scholarship of the Foundation “Giuseppe Levi” in the field of Neurobiology at the Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, Italy.
02/2013 – 01/2014 Research fellowship, Dept. Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Italy.
02/2012 – 01/2013 Research Scholarship at the National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems (INBB), Rome, Italy.
02/2009 – 01/2012 PhD student in “Applied Biochemistry and Biology”, Dept. Biochemical Sciences, University of Florence,
Italy.
Academic Appointments
09/2018 – 09/2027 National Academic Qualification as Associate Professor (Settore: 05/E1, Fascia: 2), Ministry of Education,
Universities and Research (Italy).
03/2014 – 02/2016 Post-doctoral Research scholarship from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, Italy.
02/2012 – 01/2013 Post-doctoral Research scholarship from the National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems (INBB),
Rome, Italy.
Teaching experience
Year Institution Lecture/Course
2021– 2022 University of Florence Biochimica (Modulo B026597) Corso di laurea TECNICHE ORTOPEDICHE, 1 CFU (12 h)
University of Florence Biochimica (Modulo B029272) Corso di laurea TECNICHE DI LABORATORIO
BIOMEDICO (48 h)
2020– 2021 University of Florence Biochimica (Modulo B026597) Corso di laurea TECNICHE ORTOPEDICHE, 1 CFU (12 h
BIOMEDICO, 4 CFU (48 h)
2019 – 2020 University of Florence Biochimica (Modulo B026597) Corso di laurea TECNICHE ORTOPEDICHE, 1 CFU (12 h)
2018 – 2019 University of Florence Biochimica (Modulo B026597) Corso di laurea TECNICHE ORTOPEDICHE, 1 CFU (12 h)
2020– 2021 University of Florence Biochimica (Modulo B026597) Corso di laurea TECNICHE ORTOPEDICHE, 1 CFU (12 h)
2017 – present University of Florence Exam committee member in Biochemistry
2011 – present University of Florence Tutorial activity for ungraduated students in Biology and Biotechnology and for PhD
students in Biochemistry
24/11/2022 Supervisor for a Master Degree in Molecular and Applied Biology, University of Florence.
26/10/2021 Supervisor for a Master Degree in Medical and Farmaceutical Biotechnology, University of Florence.
21/04/2020 Co-supervisor for a Master Degree in Chemistry and Farmaceutical Technologies, University of Florence.
16/02/2021 Co-supervisor for a Master Degree in Medical and Farmaceutical Biotechnology, University of Florence.
Professional Membership
2011-present Member of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SIB)
2019-present Board member of the Tuscany-Umbria-Marche Section (TUM) of the Italian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology (SIB)
Honors
03/2014 – 02/2016 Post-doctoral Research scholarship from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, Italy (Prot.47/2014/A).
07/2015 FEBS bursary for the FEBS EMBO 2015 Conference, Berlin (Germany).
09/2014 FEBS bursary for the FEBS EMBO 2014 Conference, Paris (France).
Scientific Activities
Since 2013 Reviewer for Cellular and Molecular Life Science, Life, Free Radical Research, Neural Regeneration Research
and Scientific Reports
Since 2018 Editor for Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
Since 2020 Editor for International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Since 2021 Editor for Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences
Invited Speaker
2021 Virtual workshop: Steroid-polyamines against neurodegeneration – from the physics-chemistry to the clinical
trials. Trodusquemine: a promising molecule for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. January, 20-21, 2021.
2020 The Protein Society. Webinar #5: Liquid-liquid Phase Separation (LLPS) of Proteins & Their Role in Pathology. The
involvement of stress granules in TDP-43 cytosolic inclusion formation. December, 10, 2020.
2020 AAT-AD/PD™ Focus Meeting 2020 Entirely Virtual. Functional characterisation of TDP-43 in the pathogenesis of
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. April, 2-5, 2020.
2019 AD/PD 2019, 14th International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases and related neurological
disorders: Targeting the toxicity of α-synuclein oligomers by antibodies. March, 26-29, 2019. Lisbon (Portugal).
2018 FISV 2018 Conference: The mechanism of neuronal toxicity by oligomers and fibrils of a-synuclein. September,
18-21, 2018. Rome (Italy).
2017 Seminari Area Biomedica: TDP-43 in neurodegeneration: mechanisms of aggregation, toxicity and clearance.
March 29, 2017. Florence (Italy).
2015 40th FEBS CONGRESS The Biochemical Basis of Life: Molecular links between aberrant protein oligomers and
neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. July, 4–9, 2015. Berlin (Germany).
2015 Miniworkshop e Convegno CIMN “Protein misfolding e Amiloidosi X”: Role of TDP43 in the pathogenesis of ALS:
gain of function versus loss of function. May, 15-16, 2015. Genova (Italy).
2011 Miniworkshop e Convegno CIMN “Protein misfolding e Amiloidosi VI”: TTR-mediated suppression of the toxicity
of aberrant protein oligomers. July, 1-2, 2011. Genova (Italy).
Roberta Cascella's mayor interests focused on the relationships between structure and toxicity of aberrant protein aggregates involved in protein misfolded diseases and on the study of the degradation pathways of aggregated proteins, with the aim to identify novel approach against age-associated diseases and potential therapeutic molecules for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
