Human genetics of neurological disorders

Federica Esposito

Federica Esposito

Email: esposito.federica@hsr.it
Location: DIMER, Floor 1

Group leader, Human genetics of neurological disorders

I am a Neurologist in the Department of Neurology at IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, with an in-depth knowledge of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and more than 10-year clinical experience in this topic. My research activity in the genetic field started during the MD program within the Human Molecular Genetics Unit directed by Prof. G. Casari (2002) at IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele (Milan).

Then, working in the laboratory headed by Dr. Martinelli Boneschi, I increased my expertise in genome wide association studies (GWAS) and computational biology. My experiences abroad include 6 months at the Department of Genetics, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute – Paris (supervisor Dr. J. Wojcik), 1 year at the Department of Genetics, Serono Genetics Institute – Geneva (supervisor Dr. H. Abderrahim,) and 1 year in the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Computational Neurology, Harvard Medical School – Boston (supervisor Dr. P. De Jager).

Thanks to this last experience I started to work in the field of pharmacogenetics, aimed to optimize treatment choice towards a more personalized management in MS patients. This project contributed to the publication of one of the largest genome-wide pharmacogenetics studies for Interferon treatment in MS (2015). I am currently member of the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium that provided a significant contribution to the study of the genetic component of the disease, identifying up to 200 loci associated with MS.