Paola Cavalcante

Master degree, summa cum laude, in Biological Sciences (2002) and PhD in Molecular Bio-pathology (2003 -2006) at the Department of Cell Biology of University of Calabria (Cosenza, Italy). Since 2006, post-doctoral researcher investigator at the Neurology 4 - Neuroimmunology and Neuromuscular Diseases Unit of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta (Milan, Italy). Main research field: neuroimmunology, neuromuscular and autoimmune diseases, pharmacogenomics/miRNomics. Technical skills and competences: Molecular biology (nucleic acids extraction from tissues, cells, and biological fluids; molecular cloning, PCR and qPCR, analysis of microRNAs in human tissues and cells); Cellular biology (cell cultures; transfection of human cells; PBMCs isolation and lymphocyte immortalization by EBV); Biochemistry (immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy, Bio-Plex multiplex immunoassays, ELISA, Cell-based assay). Computer skills: competent with Microsoft Office programs, statistical softwares (e.g. GraphPad PRISM version 4.0), software for image analysis (e.g. Image J), DIANA tool softwares (e.g. TarBase, miRPath). Awarded a grant by the Italian Ministry of Health as Principal Investigator of a three-years project (GR-2013-02358564) on the role of microRNAs in myasthenia gravis. Author of more than 40 publications on peer-reviewed Journals. Topical Advisory Panel Member for Cells, MDPI. Associate Editor for Frontiers in Neurology, Section "Neuromuscular Disorders and Peripheral Neuropathies”. Peer-Reviewer for international scientific Journals, including Annals of Neurology, Frontiers in Immunology, Journal of Neuroinflammation. Participation, with oral communications or posters, to National and International Meetings. Invited Plenary Speaker at the “13th and 14th International Conference on Myasthenia Gravis and Related Disorders”, organized by the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (New York May 2017; Miami May 2022). Awarded for outstanding contribution to the field of autoimmunity (The Mosaic of Autoimmunity Award) during the "11th International Congress on Autoimmunity" (May 2018).