Lab Members

David Baglietto-Vargas, Ph.D

Assistant Researcher

David performed his B.S in Biology at Malaga University, Spain (1997). He received his master degree in 2004 and his Ph.D with European distinction in 2008 at the same institution. His doctoral thesis work on ‘’Neuropathological characterization of the hippocampus of PS1M146L/APP751SL transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’ s disease’’ allowed the identification of potential biomarkers of the disease progression to be used in preclinical studies and drug screening. In fact, two of these biomarkers are currently being used by Sanofi, one of the world’s leading Pharmaceutical companies serving the cause of improving health and well-being, in its screening program for novel Alzheimer’s drugs.

Here in my lab, David is studying the impact of several medical conditions (such as, stress, diabetes, etc.) in the onset and progression of AD. He received multiple awards and he is PI of two projects.

David’s hobbies include cycling, running, traveling and cooking.

Contact: d.baglietto@uci.edu

 

Stefania Forner, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Stefania graduated in Pharmacy School (2008) by Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil. She received her M.Sc. (2011) and Ph.D (2015) in Pharmacology by the same institution where her research focus was on spinal cord injury neuroinflammation and comorbities. She was a visiting Ph.D. scholar at the University of Toronto (2014) under the supervision of Dr. Michael G. Fehlings. Stefania has received several awards from Society of Neuroscience, IBRO, IASP and Wings for Life Foundation.

At UC Irvine, Stefania is focusing her research on Alzheimer’s Disease and trying to understand the mechanisms related to synaptic failure.

Stefania’s hobbies include cycling, walking her dog, reading and traveling. She actually published a book about the time she lived in India working with HIV/AIDS, called “Chapatis and Dosas: my days in India”, sadly it’s written in Portuguese.

Contact: sforner@uci.edu

 

Alessandra C. Martini, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Alessandra graduated in Pharmacy school (2007) at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil, and received her M.Sc. (2011) and Ph.D. (2015) in Pharmacology by the same institution. Her research focused on spinal cord injury neuroinflammation and pro-resolution mechanisms. During her Ph.D., she was a visiting scholar at Duke University, under the supervision of Dr. Ru-Rong Ji.

At UCI, Alessandra is studying the relevance of inflammatory and immune responses in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Alessandra’s hobbies include playing with her dog, photographing, cooking and running.

Contact:ac.martini@uci.edu

 

 

Laura Trujillo-Estrada, Ph.D

Postdoctoral Researcher

Laura graduated in Biology at the University of Malaga (Spain) in 2009. She received her M.Sc. (2010) and Ph.D. with international distinction (2015) in Biology by the University of Malaga. Her Ph.D. focus on the characterization of animal models and testing new preventive and modifying therapies in preclinical assays. During her Ph.D. she was a visiting scholar at University of California in Irvine, under the supervision of Dr. Frank LaFerla, where she finally moves in 2016 as a postdoctoral researcher.

In my lab at UC Irvine, Laura is focusing her research on how comorbidities diseases affect the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease, specifically focusing on diabetes mellitus.

Laura’s hobbies include tv series, hiking, reading and traveling.

Contact: litrujil@uci.edu

 

 

Celia da Cunha, M.Sc.

Laboratory Assistant

Contact: cdacunha@uci.edu