Laura Piccio

Professor
School of Medical Sciences
Faculty of Medicine and Health(FMH)
University of Sydney
Sydney | Australia

The overarching goal of my research is to dissect inflammatory, immune-mediated and neurodegenerative mechanisms implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. My aims are to identify potential new avenues for therapeutic intervention or disease prevention. Specific areas of research interests include: (i) the study of the complex interplay between nutrition, metabolism, gut microbiome and immune inflammatory responses in MS; (ii) the study of  microglial biology and the innate immune receptor TREM2 (expressed by microglia) in the context of central nervous system neurodegeneration, demyelination and remyelination; and (iii) the identification of cerebrospinal fluid or blood biomarkers to provide information on MS disease prognosis and guide treatment choices. A common theme of all my research is to quickly take my laboratory-based research findings into the clinical setting.