Fabio Benfenati#
| Membership Number: | 5315 |
| Membership type: | ORDINARY |
| Section: | PHYSIOLOGY & NEUROSCIENCE |
| Elected: | 2020 |
| Main Country of Residence: | ITALY |
| Homepage(s): | https://www.iit.it/centers/iit-central-research-laboratories/nsyn-unige |
| ORCID: | 0000-0002-0653-8368 |
Present and Previous Positions
- 2015 - present Research Director, Center of Synaptic Neuroscience and Technology, The Italian Institute of Technology, Genova (Italy)
- 2006 - 2015 Founder and Research Director, Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, The Italian Institute of Technology, Genova (Italy)
- 2000 - present Full Professor of Neurophysiology, University of Genova, School of Medicine (Italy)
- 1992 - 1999 Associate Professor of Physiology, University of Roma II, School of Medicine (Italy)
- 1990 - present Member of the Adjunct Faculty, The Rockefeller University, New York (USA)
- 1986 - 1989 Fogarty Fellow & Research Associate, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York (USA) directed by Prof Paul Greengard (Nobel Laureate in 2000)
- 1984 - 1992 Assistant Professor of Physiology, University of Modena, School of Medicine (Italy)
- 1983 - 1984 Post-doctoral fellow at the Dept of Histology and Neurobiology at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm (Sweden) in Kjell Fuxe’s and Thomas Hokfelt’s laboratories
- 1980 - 1983 "Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei" fellow at the "Mario Negri" Institute for Pharmacological Research (Milano, Italy)
Fields of Scholarship
- Central nervous system
- Synaptic transmission
- Synapsins
- SNARE proteins and fusion machine
- Synaptic plasticity
- Synaptic genes and synaptopathies
- Neural interfaces with smart materials
- Optogenetics
- Neuronal photostimulation
- Retinal prosthetics
Honours and Awards
- 1979 "Thesis Prize" and thesis publication by the University of Bologna
- 1980 Prize for Neurobiology, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
- 1981 - 1982 “Anna Villa Rusconi” Foundation Fellowship
- 1986 - 1987 Fogarty International Center Fellowship from the US Public Health Service 1988: “Italian Society for Neuroscience” Prize for young neuroscientists
- 1992/96 Board Member of the Italian Society for Neuroscience
- 1997 Fullbright Advanced Research and University Lecturing Award
- 2001 Promoter and Laudatio lecturer for the Honorary Degree in Medicine awarded to professor Paul Greengard, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 2000
- 2003 - 2005 President, Italian Society for Neuroscience
- 2004 - 2006 Board Member of the Italian Federation for Life Sciences (FISV)
- 2005 - 2008 Vice-President, National Institute for Neuroscience, Italy
- 2008 - 2011 Chairman, International Program Committee, 8th IBRO World Congress, Florence (Italy)
- 2009 - 2011 President, The Italian Physiological Society
- 2009 - 2012 Member, CNRS Conseil Scientifique du Dept Sciences du Vivant, Paris (France)
- 2010 - 2016 Member, International Scientific Council of the European Brain Research Institute, Rome
- 2005 - present: Member, Scientific Committee of the International Genoa Science Festival
- 2012 Foreign Scientist Award, The Michael Stern Foundation for Parkinson's Disease, New York, USA
- 2012 - 2018 President, Italian Collegium of Physiologists
- 2012 - present President, Advisory Board of the Clinical Research Institute (IRCCS) of Neurological Sciences, Bologna (Italy)
- 2012 Smart Cup and National Innovation Prize (PNI) for Life Sciences for the project "ON-IRIS, photovoltaic artificial retina"
- 2013 Opening lecture for the Academic Year 2012/13 at the University of Genova
- 2015 President of the “66th National Congress of the Italian Physiological Society" Genova, September 16-18, 2015
- 2015 Member of the Program Committee, Federation of the European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum, Copenhagen (Denmark), July 2-6, 2016
