PEOPLE
DANIELLA RYLANDER OTTOSSON, PhD
Principal Investigator
Daniella has a Master's in Biomedicine from Lund University with exchange studies at the University of Toronto where she specialized in neuroscience. She did her Ph.D. education at Lund University with Prof. A Cenci Nilsson, focusing on behavioral pharmacology and motor complications of Parkinson’s disease. Daniella defended her Ph.D. thesis in 2010 and was awarded Prize for best Ph.D. thesis from Parkinson Foundation, Sweden.
Her first postdoc was located at IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia in Rome in the laboratory of Prof. P. Calabresi, where she investigated synaptic plasticity after cell transplantation in Parkinson’s disease (F7 REPLACES EU network) supported by Tegger post-doc scholarship. In 2013 she was recruited back to Lund to establish an electrophysiology platform in the field of cell reprogramming as part of Prof. M. Parmar’s group. Here she led projects on in vivo neuronal reprogramming with support from SSMF (Swedish Society for Medical Research) and Parkinson's Research Foundation.
In 2017, Daniella was awarded an Establishment grant from Swedish Research Council and has since then been leading her own research group (appointed as Associate Senior Lecturer) with a focus on direct reprogramming and GABAergic interneurons both in situ in the living mouse brain, and in in vitro using human somatic cells. For these projects, she has been awarded the Jeansson prize in Sweden (2019).
In 2021, Daniella was appointed as a Wallenberg Academy Fellow, which is a career program established by Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Popular science summary for Jeansson Award
Editorial Research Topic at Frontiers
EFRAIN CEPEDA-PRADO
Senior postdoctoral fellow
Biography
Efrain studies the synaptic integration and connectivity of in vivo reprogrammed mouse and human neurons, with the aim of developing future therapies for diseases such as Parkinson's disease or Schizophrenia. He is using techniques such as patch-clamp electrophysiology, 3D morphology, and RNA sequencing at a single-cell level.
Academic Background
Dr. rer. nat. Natural sciences - Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany.
M.Sc. - Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
B.Sc. - Pontifical Xavierian University, Bogotá, Colombia.
Publications
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Stamouli CA, Degener A, Cepeda-Prado E, Bruzelius A, Andersson E, Giacomoni J, Vorgeat AD, Kidnapillai S, Klementieva O, Parmar M, Olariu V, Rylander Ottosson D. Generating human parvalbumin interneurons through 3D glia reprogramming. bioRxiv. 2024:2024.09.06.609855.
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Gvazava N, Konings SC, Cepeda-Prado E, Skoryk V, Umeano CH, Dong J, Silva IAN, Ottosson DR, Leigh ND, Wagner DE et al. Label-free high-resolution photothermal optical infrared spectroscopy for spatiotemporal chemical analysis in fresh, hydrated living tissues and embryos. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2023 Nov.
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Canals I, Comella-Bolla A, Cepeda-Prado E, Avaliani N, Crowe JA, Oburoglu L, Bruzelius A, King N, Pajares MA, Pérez-Sala D, Heuer A, Rylander Ottosson D, Soriano J, Ahlenius H. Astrocyte dysfunction and neuronal network hyperactivity in a CRISPR engineered pluripotent stem cell model of frontotemporal dementia. Brain Communications. 2023.
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Giacomoni J, Habekost M, Cepeda-Prado E, Mattsson B, Ottosson DR, Parmar M, Kajtez J. Protocol for optical clearing and imaging of fluorescently labeled ex vivo rat brain slices. STAR Protoc. 2023 Jan 18;4(1):102041.
SRISAIYINI KIDNAPILLAI
Research Engineer
Biography
Srisaiyini’s Ph.D. studies at Deakin University, Australia focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms of commonly prescribed Bipolar disorder drugs in order to understand how they bring about therapeutic effects (2015-2018). After joining the Ottosson Lab in 2019, she has been working on in vivo direct reprogramming of glial cells into interneurons. She was supported by Wenner Gren postdoctoral fellowship for education in Sweden (2020-2021). From 2022, Srisaiyini has been working as a Research Engineer in the group,
Academic Background
Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine) – Deakin University, Australia
Masters in Genetic Diagnostics -University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Bachelor of Science (Medical Bioscience) - Monash University, Australia
Publications
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Stamouli CA, Degener A, Cepeda-Prado E, Bruzelius A, Andersson E, Giacomoni J, Vorgeat AD, Kidnapillai S, Klementieva O, Parmar M, Olariu V, Rylander Ottosson D. Generating human parvalbumin interneurons through 3D glia reprogramming. bioRxiv. 2024:2024.09.06.609855.
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Kidnapillai S, Ottosson DR. Functional Assessment of Direct Reprogrammed Neurons In Vitro and In Vivo. Methods Mol Biol (August 2021).
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Bruzelius A, Kidnapillai S, Drouin-Ouellet J, Stoker T, Barker RA, Rylander Ottosson D. Reprogramming Human Adult Fibroblasts into GABAergic Interneurons. Cells. 2021;10(12):3450. Published 2021 Dec 8.
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Birtele B, Sharma Y, Kidnapillai S, Lau S, Stoker T.B., Barker R.A., Rylander Ottosson D, Drouin‐Ouellet J, Parmar M. Dual modulation of neuron-specific microRNA and the REST complex promotes functional maturation of human adult induced neurons. Federation of European Biochemical Society letters, 2019; 593 (23); 3370-3380.
GIANLUIGI NOCERA
Postdoctoral Fellow
Biography
Gianluigi Nocera studies the reprogramming of human glial progenitor cells into GABAergic interneurons in vivo, aiming to develop therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. His research focuses on enhancing the synaptic integration and functional recovery of these reprogrammed neurons using post-operative physical exercise. Techniques employed include immunohistochemistry, single-cell RNA sequencing, and electrophysiology to assess neuronal reprogramming and network connectivity.
Academic Background
PhD in Natural Sciences – Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU), Germany.
MSc in Neuroscience – University of Trieste, Italy.
BSc in Biological Sciences – University of Naples, Italy.
CHRISTINA-ANASTASIA STAMOULI
PhD Student
Biography
After completing her master's studies in Biomedicine at Lund University and working as a research assistant in the lab, Christina is now pursuing her Ph.D., from March 2022. She is focusing on generating interneurons by direct reprogramming of glial cells and dissecting the molecular mechanisms underlying the cellular decision during the reprogramming process.
Academic Background
Master of Science (Biomedicine)-Lund University, Sweden
Bachelor of Science (Molecular Biology and Genetics)- Democritus University of Thrace (DUTh), Greece
Publications
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Stamouli CA, Degener A, Cepeda-Prado E, Bruzelius A, Andersson E, Giacomoni J, Vorgeat AD, Kidnapillai S, Klementieva O, Parmar M, Olariu V, Rylander Ottosson D. Generating human parvalbumin interneurons through 3D glia reprogramming. bioRxiv. 2024:2024.09.06.609855.
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Giacomoni J, Bruzelius A, Stamouli Christina-Anastasia and Rylander Ottosson D. Direct conversion of Human Stem cell-derived Glial Progenitor Cells into GABAergic Interneurons. Cells, 2020; 9 (11); 2451.
CONSTANZA ARETIO MEDINA
PhD Student
Biography
Constanza completed her master’s degree in advanced therapies at the Francisco de Vitoria University and after finishing her internship at Lund University working with stem cells for regenerative therapy, she joined the Ottosson group to study the integration of human interneurons in organotypic cultures. She will focus on studying the transplantation of these cells into different in vivo systems and assess their maturation, function and integration into the neural circuitry.
Academic Background
Master in Advanced Therapies-Francisco de Vitoria University, Spain
Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy)-University of Seville, Spain
Publications
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Palma-Tortosa, S., Martínez-Curiel, R., Aretio-Medina, C., Avaliani, N., Kokaia, Z. Organotypic Cultures of Adult Human Cortex as an Ex vivo Model for Human Stem Cell Transplantation and Validation. J. Vis. Exp. (190), e64234, doi:10.3791/64234 (2022).
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Martinez-Curiel R, Jansson L, Tsupykov O, Avaliani N, Aretio-Medina C, Hidalgo I, Monni E, Bengzon J, Skibo G, Lindvall O, Kokaia Z, Palma-Tortosa S. Oligodendrocytes in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cortical grafts remyelinate adult rat and human cortical neurons. Stem Cell Reports. 2023 May 10:S2213-6711(23)00144-3. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2023.04.010. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37236198.
GIULIA SCARAVILLO
Intern Student
Biography
Giulia Scaravillo completed her B.Sc. in Medical Biotechnology at the University of Milan, Italy, and pursued her master's degree in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Trento, Italy, with a specialization in Neurobiology. For her thesis, she joined Magdalena Götz's lab at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, where she focused on the modulation of metabolism through candidate transcription factors to enhance direct neuronal reprogramming.
Academic Background
Master in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology -University of Trento, Italy,
Bachelor of Science (Medical Biotechnology) - University of Milan, Italy