Gabriele Ruffolo
Tenure-track Researcher
gabriele.ruffolo@uniroma.it
Academic Appointments:
- 2021 – 2023 Research Associate (RTD-A), Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
- 2021 – Present “BE-FOR-ERC” Research Fellow, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
- 2019 Research Fellow, Department of Neuropathology, UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- 2017 – Present Assistant Lecturer, Human Physiology (Course Leader: Prof. E. Palma), Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- 2015 – Present Lecturer, Extracurricular Teachings, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Sant’ Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Honors and Awards:
- 2024 Awardee of “2022 Best Paper Award for Anniversary Special Issues”, for “Biomedicines”, journal”.
- 2023 Winner of “Mauro Baschirotto” prize for the best oral presentation at LICE congress 2023
- 2022 Awardee of a Raman Sankar travel bursary for WONOEP 2022 congress
- 2017 Appointment as “Expert in the Field of Physiology” (Cultore della Materia), University of Rome “Sapienza”
- 2015 “Excellent Graduate” Prize, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”
Scientific interests:
I am a Researcher in Physiology. I graduated in “Medicine and Surgery” in July 2014 and then I obtained a PhD in “Clinical/Experimental neuroscience and Psychiatry” in 2018. Until now I worked in the field of neurophysiology and electrophysiology, using different techniques of electrophysiological recording for the functional study of neurotransmitter receptors, especially in the field of epilepsy research. My main interest is the study of the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental epilepsies with a particular regard for the alterations of neurotransmission that play a fundamental role in generation and recurrence of seizures but also in the deviation of brain development from its “physiological” route. The results of this investigation are documented in the publications listed in this document.
Relevant national and international collaborations:
- University of Rome “Sapienza” (Prof. Eleonora Palma and Prof. Cristina Limatola)
- University of Catanzaro “Magna Graecia” (Prof. Antonio Gambardella and Prof. Gianni Cuda)
- University Medical Center (Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Prof. Eleonora Aronica)
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular (Lisbon, Portugal. Prof. Ana Maria Sebastião)
- University of Eastern Finland (Prof. Asla Pitkanen)
Contribution to Science
I have actively contributed to advancing our understanding of neurotransmission dysfunction in epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders by developing a line of research that was my main focus since my PhD. This journey begun with the publication of the main manuscript included in my PhD thesis: “Functional aspects of early brain development are preserved in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) epileptogenic lesions (DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2016.07.014). Since then, I worked in my lab and with international collaborators to further develop the hypothesis that modulation of chloride homeostasis in developmental pathologies can recover a more physiological GABAergic neurotransmission, thus restoring a functional inhibitory neurotransmission (DOI: 10.1111/epi.1457;10.3390/brainsci12060807;10.1007/s00401-024-02737-7). These research outputs have been constantly reported to the scientific community through conference presentations and invited talks at national and international congresses.
5 Selected publications
- Mirte Scheper, Frederik Sorensen, Gabriele Ruffolo, et al., Impaired GABAergic regulation and developmental immaturity in interneurons derived from the medial ganglionic eminence in the tuberous sclerosis complex. (2024), Acta Neuropathologica, IF = 9.3
- Gabriele Ruffolo, Veronica Alfano, Alessia Romagnolo, Till Zimmer, James D. Mills, Pierangelo Cifelli, Alessandro Gaeta, Alessandra Morano, Jasper Anink, Angelika Mühlebner, Annamaria Vezzani, Eleonora Aronica & Eleonora Palma. GABAA receptor modulation by cytokines in human epileptogenic gangliogliomas. Scientific Reports (2022) IF = 4.379
- Stefania Scalise, Clara Zannino, Valeria Lucchino, Michela Lo Conte, Luana Scaramuzzino, Pierangelo Cifelli, Tiziano D’Andrea, Katiuscia Martinello, Sergio Fucile, Eleonora Palma, Antonio Gambardella, Gabriele Ruffolo*, Giovanni Cuda, and Elvira Immacolata Parrotta. Human iPSC Modeling of Genetic Febrile Seizure Reveals Aberrant Molecular and Physiological Features Underlying an Impaired Neuronal Activity. Biomedicines (2022); IF = 6,081 *Corresponding author
- Gabriele Ruffolo, Pierangelo Cifelli, Cristina Roseti, Maria Thom, Erwin A. van Vliet, Cristina Limatola, Eleonora Aronica & Eleonora Palma. A novel GABAergic dysfunction in human Dravet syndrome. Epilepsia. (2018); IF = 5.562
- Gabriele Ruffolo, Anand Iyer, Pierangelo Cifelli, Cristina Roseti, Angelika Mühlebner, Jackelien van Scheppingen, Theresa Scholl, Johannes A. Hainfellner, Martha Feucht, Pavel Krsek, Josef Zamecnik,Floor E. Jansen, Wim G. M. Spliet, MD, Cristina Limatola, Eleonora Aronica Eleonora Palma. Functional aspects of early brain development are preserved in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). Neurobiology of Disease (2016); IF = 5.020
On-going Grants
| Project Title | Funding source | Amount (Euros) | Period | Role of the PI |
| PRIN 2022: Advanced iPSC-based model of human drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) linked to SCN1A mutations | Ministry of University and Research (MUR) | 81.153 | Nov 2023 – Nov 2025 | CO-PI |
| MNESYS, SPOKE 2 PNRR. Electrophysiological characterization of human neurons and microcircuits ex vivo in brain surgical tissue. | Ministry of University and Research | 200.000 | July 2024 – July 2025 | CO-PI |
Complete list of published work in MyBibliography:
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=56720340600
KEYWORDS:
GABA receptors; Epilepsy; Neurodevelopment; Electrophysiology.
