Laura Piccio

Associate Professor
School of Medical Sciences
Brain and Mind Centre
University of Sydney
Sydney | Australia

Laura Piccio is a physician scientist known internationally for her work in the field of neuroimmunology and neuroinflammation. She obtained her medical degree and PhD at the University of Milan, Italy, where she also trained as a neurologist. In 2005 she was awarded a fellowship by the National MS Society (NMSS) and she moved to the US to work in the Neuroimmunology division under the mentorship of Dr. Anne H. Cross at Washington University in St. Louis where she stayed on faculty until 2019. In February 2019 she was appointed at the University of Sydney where she is currently a Professor in Neurology in the School of Medical Sciences. The overarching goal of Dr. Piccio’s research is to dissect the role of diet and gut microbiota in modulating the immune system and the development and progression of a range of immune-mediated diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. She identified that intermittent fasting in mice alleviates experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), the main model of multiple sclerosis (MS), by reshaping the gut microbiota and promoting anti-inflammatory T cells. She has also performed clinical trials in people with MS to test the effects of intermittent calorie restriction on adipokine levels, peripheral immune cells and the gut microbiota which ultimately could modulate metabolic and immune inflammatory responses implicated in disease pathogenesis.