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Valentina Salari

Dr, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Thematic Area:

DiagnosticsTherapeutics

Disease Area:

Epilepsy

Dr Valentina Salari holds a BSc in Biology from the University of Milan–Bicocca, an MSc in Neurobiology from the University of Pavia, and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Verona. During her doctoral training, she investigated developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, as well as the gut–brain microbiota axis in epilepsy, gaining experience with in vitro and animal models, as well as electrophysiological techniques, in the laboratory of Prof. Paolo Fabene.

Her research interests focus on neuroinflammation and glial mechanisms in epilepsy. Through her collaboration with Prof. Tobias Engel, she conducted research on the role of the purinergic P2X7 receptor in epileptic disorders, laying the foundation for her current work.

As a NeuroAdapt Fellow, Dr Salari is leading GliaTarget, a project aimed at developing a microglia-selective therapeutic strategy for epilepsy. GliaTarget focuses on the targeted inhibition of the P2X7 receptor in microglia using antisense oligonucleotides delivered via engineered lipid nanoparticles, aiming to advance cell-specific, disease-modifying treatments for epilepsy.