Research

Our mission, as a lab devoted to neuropsychopharmacology research, is to decipher mechanisms of susceptibility and resilience during sensitive developmental windows preceding adolescence, in order to contribute to buck the trend in current youth mental health.

The research activities currently funded and carried out in the Melis lab are the followings:

  1. Resolving sEx DIffeREnces in proCessing sensory informaTion (REDIRECT)- (funded by ERC-2022-COG 101088207) (PI)
  2. Maternal THC Effects on Reward and Neuronal Activity and function (MaTERNA) -(funded by National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), RO1DA044925-01A1; MUR FISR2019_00202; Cariplo 2022_1619; MUR PRIN 2022_ 20222W4RT8) (PI)
  3. Modulation of dopaminergic transmission through microRNAs as a measure to counteract dopamine neuronal degeneration (funded by MUR PRIN PNRR 2022-P2022K5PTK) (co-PI)
    • Past projects
    • Synaptic Adaptations Following Early life Traumas (SAFETy) -(funded by Regione Autonoma Sardegna: RASSR32909-RAS2017; and Université Franco-Italienne: G20_525-UFI) (PI)
    • Caratterizzazione delle proprietà specifiche dell’acido linoleico coniugato (CLA) in forma fosfolipidica per il trattamento di patologie psichiatriche a base neuroinfiammatoria e individuazione di biomarcatori dell’efficacia terapeutica -(MIUR-PoC POC01_00069) (Co-PI)
    • Targeting neurosteroids for neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease (Fondazione di Sardegna, FdS-F75F21001290007) (Co-PI)
    • Neurosteroids as a novel predictive biomarker associated with sleep disorders in PD (FdS; F71I17000200002) (Co-PI)

All of these are carried out in my lab @ Division of Neuroscience and Clinical Pharmacology of the DiSB in collaboration with local, national and international partners such as:

MaTERNA team (2019): left-to-right sitting, Mauro, Francesco, Valeria, Miriam, Roberto; left-to-right standing, Paola, Claudia, Pierluigi.