Professor Flaviano Giorgini

Professor Giorgini’s interest in neurodegeneration research began as a senior fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Washington. This work, combined with a background in genetics and model organisms, formed the basis for Professor Giorgini’s current research in neurogenetics at the University of Leicester. 

Professor Giorgini started as a lecturer in the Department of Genetics in 2006, became a reader in 2012, and has been professor of neurogenetics since 2015.

Ablation of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase rescues plasma inflammatory cytokine levels in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease. Bondulich MK Fan Y Song Y Giorgini F* Bates GP. Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 9;11(1):5484. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84858-7.

A novel role for kynurenine 3-monooxygenase in mitochondrial dynamics. Maddison DC Alfonso-Núñez M Swaih AM Breda C Campesan S Allcock N Straatman-Iwanowska A Kyriacou CP Giorgini F*. PloS Genet. 2020 Nov 10;16(11):e1009129. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009129. eCollection 2020 Nov.

RAB39B is redistributed in dementia with Lewy bodies and is sequestered within Aβ plaques and Lewy bodies. Koss DJ Bondarevaite O Adams S Leite M Giorgini F Attems J Outeiro TF. Brain Pathology 2021 Jan;31(1):120-132. doi: 10.1111/bpa.12890.

Zhang S Sakuma M Deora GS Levy CW Klausing A Breda C Read KD Edlin CD Ross BP Muelas MW Day PJ O’Hagan S Kell DB Schwarcz R Leys D Heyes DJ Giorgini F* Scrutton NS*. A brain-permeable inhibitor of the neurodegenerative disease target kynurenine 3-monooxygenase prevents accumulation of neurotoxic metabolites. Commun Biol 2019 Jul 24;2:271. doi: 10.1038/s42003-019-0520-5.

Aron R Pellegrini P Green EW Maddison DC Opoku-Nsiah K Osorio Oliveira A Wong JS Daub AC Giorgini F Finkbeiner F. Deubiquitinase Usp12 functions noncatalytically to confer neuroprotection in models of Huntington’s disease and induce neuronal autophagy. Nat Commun 2018 Oct 15;9(1):4333. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06888-6.

Repici M Hassanjani M Maddison DC Garção P Cimini S Patel B Szegö ÉM Straatman KR Lilley KS Borsello T Outeiro TF Panman L Giorgini F*. The Parkinson’s disease-linked protein DJ-1 associates with cytoplasmic mRNP granules during stress and neurodegeneration. Mol Neurobiol 2018 Apr 19. doi: 10.1007/s12035-018-1084-y.

Robinson SW Bourgognon JM Spiers JG Breda C Campesan S Butcher A Mallucci GR Dinsdale D Morone N Mistry R Smith TM Guerra-Martin M Challiss RAJ Giorgini F Steinert JR. Nitric oxide-mediated posttranslational modifications control neurotransmitter release by modulating complexin farnesylation and enhancing its clamping ability. PLoS Biol 2018 Apr 9;16(4):e2003611. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2003611.

Vicente Miranda H Szegő EM Oliveira LM Breda C Darendelioglu E Machado de Oliveira R Ferreira D Gomes MA Rott R Oliveira M Munari F Enguita FJ Simões T Ferreira Rodrigues E Heinrich M Martins IC Zamolo I Riess O Cordeiro C Ponces-Freire A Lashuel HA Correia Santos N Vaqueiro Lopes L Xiang W Jovin TM Penque D Engelender S Zweckstetter M Klucken J Giorgini F Quintas A Outeiro TF. Glycation potentiates α-synuclein-associated neurodegeneration in synucleinopathies. Brain 2017 May 1;140(5):1399-1419. doi: 10.1093/braiwx056.

Erhardt S Pocivavsek A Repici M Liu XC Imbeault S Maddison DC Thomas MAR Smalley JL Larsson MK Muchowski PJ Giorgini F Schwarcz R. Adaptive and Behavioral Changes in Kynurenine 3-monooxygenase Knockout Mice: Relevance to Psychotic Disorders. Biol Psych 2017; pii: S0006-3223(16)33112-2.

Breda C Sathyasaikumar KV Idrissi SS Notarangelo FM Estranero JG Moore GGL Green EW Kyriacou CP Schwarcz R Giorgini F*. Tryptophan-23-dioxygenase (TDO) inhibition ameliorates neurodegeneration by modulation of kynurenine pathway metabolites. PNAS 2016; 10;113(19):5435-40. 

• BS1050
• BS2009
• BS2026
• BS3055
• MB3050
• MCBG

• BSc (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA)
• MA (Washington University in St. Louis, MO USA)
• PhD (University of Washington, Seattle WA USA)