Dr. Matteo Gastaldi MD, PhD
Head of the Neuroimmunology Laboratory
IRCCS Mondino Foundation
Pavia | Italy
Matteo Gastaldi was trained in neurology at the University of Pavia and Hospital Macchi foundation (Varese). He acquired his PhD at the University of Pavia under the supervision of his mentor Dr. Diego Franciotta. In this period, he spent 18 months at the John Radcliffe Hospital neuroimmunology laboratory (University of Oxford) under the supervision of Prof. Angela Vincent, where he developed a keen interest in the field of antibody mediated disorders of the central nervous system. In the following years he spent 3 months at the IDIBAPS Barcellona neuroimmunology laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Francesc Graus and Josep Dalmau, a leading laboratory for the detection of neuronal surface antibodies. Since 2020 he is the head of the neuroimmunology laboratory and Neuroimmunology research Unit at the IRCCS Mondino Foundation, a referral laboratory for the detection of neuroglial antibodies in Italy.
He is currently part of the board of the Italian Association of Neuroimmunology, where he coordinates a research group for the study of autoimmune neurology (NINA) that promotes network projects in this field. Within the same scientific society, with his former mentor Diego Franciotta, he helped coordinating the annual AINI external quality scheme, that promotes standardization among neuroimmunology laboratories across Italy.
His main research interest is the field of antibody mediated disorders of the nervous system including demyelinating disorders, myasthenia gravis and autoimmune encephalitis. The current research projects of the Mondino Neuroimmunology Laboratory include the standardization and evaluation of the immunoassays for neuronal antibody detection, the relevance of antibody-mediated myelin loss in Multiple Sclerosis, the prognostic and pathogenic role of MOG antibodies and the relevance of neuronal antibodies in the development of new onset psychosis.