Neuroepigenetics
Alessandro Sessa
Email: sessa.alessandro@hsr.it
Location: San Gabriele B4, 4th floor, Room 49A
Group leader, Neuroepigenetics Unit
Alessandro (Varese, 1981) received his PhD from San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan (I) (2012, Dr. Vania Broccoli’s laboratory), studying mechanisms underlying the cerebral cortex development. During this phase of his academic pursuit, Alessandro also enriched his scientific experience by spending six months in the laboratory of Dr. Francois Guillemot at the Medical Research Council (MRC) in London (UK). As post-doctoral fellow first and then as senior scientist within the group of Dr. Broccoli, he focused on the role of epigenetic players in the physiological development of the brain as well as the impact of disease mutations for the establishment of pathological conditions. Alessandro started as Group leader of the “Neuroepigenetic Unit” in Division of Neuroscience, Ospedale San Raffaele, in 2023.
During his career, Alessandro has made contributions to the understanding of the cellular and molecular aspects governing cerebral cortex development. His work has encompassed diverse areas, from the significance of specific cell populations to the role of cell polarity in neural stem cell differentiation, and the importance of various signaling pathways in corticogenesis. Moreover, his research endeavors have extended to the pathogenesis of neurological disorders, including microcephaly, epilepsy, and rare syndromes. Beside pure biological investigations he has contributed to methodological papers on molecular/cellular tools at the basis of the current biological research as cell reprogramming, viral delivery, and generation of synthetic epigenetic repressors.
Alessandro is contract professor at San Raffaele “Vita e Salute” University (since 2011).
He is scientific founder and consultant at Repron Therapeutics (since 2023).
2012 Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine (section: Neuroscience) at “Vita e Salute” San Raffaele University – Milan (Italy).
2007 M.Sc. Degree in Biological Sciences (section: Cellular and Molecular Biology) with highest honour (110/110 cum laude) at Insubria University – Varese (Italy).
2004 B.Sc. Degree in Biological Sciences (section: Cellular and Molecular Biology) with highest honour (110/110 cum laude) at Insubria University – Varese (Italy).
2023 - Present: Group Leader
San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (Italy).
Neuroepigenetics Unit
2023 - Present: Consultant
Repron Therapeutics, Milan (Italy).
2014 - 2023: Project Leader and Staff Scientist
San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (Italy).
Stem Cell & Neurogenesis Unit
Head: Dr. Vania Broccoli
2013 - 2014: Post-doctoral fellow
European Institute of Oncology
c/o IFOM-IEO Campus, Milan (Italy)
Dept. of Experimental Oncology
Stem Cell Epigenetics Unit
Head: Prof. Giuseppe Testa
2012 - 2013: Post-doctoral fellow
San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (Italy).
Stem Cell & Neurogenesis Unit
Head: Dr. Vania Broccoli
2011: Visiting PhD student
National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) – Medical Research Council (MRC), Mill Hill, London (UK).
Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory
Head: Dr. Francois Guillemot
2008 - 2012: PhD student
San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (Italy).
Stem Cell & Neurogenesis Unit
Head: Dr. Vania Broccoli
2022 National Scientific qualification as Associate Professor in the Italian higher education system, in the call 2021/2023 (Ministerial Decree n. 553/2021 and 589/2021) for the disciplinary fields:
05/B2 - Comparative anatomy and cytology.
05/E2 - Molecular biology.
05/F1 - Experimental Biology.
05/I1 - Genetics.
2018 Accepted as featured author of the Early Career Researcher Program promoted by Developmental Biology for the paper Massimino et al., Dev Biol., 2018.
Elsevier
2017 Representative image of Sessa et al., 2017 selected as Cover Illustration on Cerebral Cortex (Volume 27 Issue 6, June 2017).
Oxford University Press
2013 Winner of SEMM's (European School of Molecular Medicine) Structured International Post Doc Program (SIPOD) - National Fellowship (108.000€/3yrs).
IFOM-IEO campus, Milan.
2012 Winner of Cajal Club’s KRIEG CORTICAL KUDOS scholar prize.
SFN annual meeting, New Orleans (USA).
2008 Winner of Poster Prize for development section.
Molecular Mechanisms in Neuroscience, Milan.