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Acute Brain and Cardiovascular Injury

Head
Elisa
R. Zanier
Head of Department
Dipartimento di Ricerca Danno Cerebrale e Cardiovascolare Acuto
elisa.zanier@marionegri.it
Staff
Aurora
Chiapperini
Department Assistant
Dipartimento di Ricerca Danno Cerebrale e Cardiovascolare Acuto
aurora.chiapperini@marionegri.it
Senior Advisor
No items found.

The Department investigates acute brain and cardiovascular injury and its long-term evolution, with the goal of limiting lesion progression, preventing chronic consequences, and improving patient recovery.

Our research focuses on traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, stroke, epilepsy, post cardiac resuscitation brain injury, and cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction. These conditions can cause persistent neurological or cardiac impairment, significantly affecting autonomy and quality of life.

Studying the heart and brain together addresses two important challenges. Cardiac injury can have significant consequences for the brain, and although acute injuries in these two organs differ in many respects, they share key biological mechanisms, including inflammation, vascular dysfunction, and altered repair processes. Bringing together experts in these fields within a shared research environment enables common problems to be addressed from different perspectives and fosters therapeutic development.

To accelerate the development of neuroprotective and cardioprotective therapies and facilitate the translation of discoveries into clinical practice, the Department has established a Clinical Trial Research Hub that provides integrated support for clinical studies, from design and regulatory management to monitoring and data analysis.

View the brochure: [Short version] [Extended version]

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ObJECTIVES

The aim of the Department is to develop preclinical models and foster the interaction between laboratory and clinical activities, to:

  • Understand the mechanisms that determine injury severity, progression, and recovery.
  • Identify distinct biological and functional profiles, or endophenotypes, associated with disease, disease progression, and treatment response.
  • Develop neuroprotective and cardioprotective therapies for both the acute phase and chronic consequences.
  • Identify biomarkers useful for diagnosis, prognosis, and assessment of therapeutic response.
  • Improve the clinical relevance of preclinical models through comparison with patient-derived data and biological samples.
  • Develop a preclinical biobank that promotes material sharing and contributes to reducing animal use in research.
  • Contribute to the training of experimental and clinical researchers.

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES

  • In vitro and in vivo models of acute brain and cardiovascular diseases.
  • Histological, biochemical, and molecular biology techniques.
  • Brightfield, confocal, and super-resolution microscopy.
  • Digital image processing and analysis of microscopy and in vivo magnetic resonance imaging data.
  • High-sensitivity biomarker analysis.
  • Video-electroencephalography (Video-EEG) and electrophysiology.
  • High-resolution echocardiography, electrocardiography, and invasive hemodynamic assessment.
  • Behavioral testing.
  • Development of cell-based therapies in both experimental and clinical settings.
  • Phase I, II, and III clinical trials in cardiovascular and neurological disorders.
  • Observational studies conducted in collaboration with a large network of General Practitioners.
  • An ISO 9001-certified biobank containing biological samples from multiple patient cohorts, representing more than 30,000 individuals.
Results
  • Epilepsy: Experimental evidence supporting the beneficial effects of physical activity; identification of EEG markers and blood biomarkers associated with epilepsy risk and treatment response; investigation of the gut-brain axis showing that short-chain fatty acid supplementation reduces seizure progression, memory deficits, and brain damage in experimental models.
  • Stroke: Identification of the role of alpha-synuclein in vascular inflammation and multicenter preclinical demonstration of the neuroprotective effects of remote ischemic conditioning in the TRICS BASIC study.
  • Traumatic Brain Injury: Development of therapies targeting the immune response and investigation of blood biomarkers to bridge experimental findings, clinical research, and therapeutic monitoring; development of a platform integrating high-resolution neural sensors and artificial intelligence for acute brain injury, in partnership with Corticale and Inmatica.
  • Spinal Cord Injury: Preclinical validation of targeted delivery systems for anti-inflammatory molecules and development of a customizable hydrogel to support cell-based therapies.
  • Cerebral Cavernous Malformations and Cardiac Arrest: Design and coordination of clinical studies for the treatment of cerebral cavernous malformations (Treat_CCM, Treat_ALL) and for neuroprotection following cardiac arrest through argon ventilation (CPAr).
  • Cardiovascular Prevention: Development and validation of personalized nutritional approaches, care pathways, and innovative tools for cardiovascular risk stratification through the Resolvin, iCARE4CVD, and CVRiskIT projects.
Current projects


 AI-driven High-density Electrophysiology for Advanced Drug Discovery (AHEAD)

Sponsor: RegioneLombardia – Bando Collabora e Innova

Research Area: Brain injury

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Mesenchymal stromal cells for traumatic brain injury (MATRIX)

Sponsor: Fondazione Regionale Ricerca Biomedica (FRRB) – Bando Unmet Medical Needs

Research Area: Traumatic brain injury

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Mesenchymal stromAl cells for Traumatic bRain Injury: The MATRIx study. A multicenter, double blind, randomized, placebo controlled, adaptive phase II dose finding study

Sponsor: Ministero della Salute – Bando di Ricerca Finalizzata

Research Area: Traumatic brain injury

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Ficolin-2-dependent mechanisms of morpho-functional evolution of unstable atherosclerotic plaques (FUN AT PLAQUE)

Sponsor: Fondazione Regionale per la Ricerca Biomedica (FRRB), Regione Lombardia

Research Area: Cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis

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Natural history of familial cerebral cavernous malformations: the CCM_Italia cohort study

Sponsor: Ministero della Salute – Bando PNRR 2023

Research Area: Rare diseases

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Head
Elisa
R. Zanier
Head of Department
Dipartimento di Ricerca Danno Cerebrale e Cardiovascolare Acuto
elisa.zanier@marionegri.it
Staff
Aurora
Chiapperini
Department Assistant
Dipartimento di Ricerca Danno Cerebrale e Cardiovascolare Acuto
aurora.chiapperini@marionegri.it
Senior Advisor
No items found.

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