Prof. Paola Arlotta
Chair, Harvard Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology; Golub Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University and Associate Member, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute - Photo Credit: Martin Adolfsson
A leading neuroscientist, Prof. Arlotta is interested in understanding the molecular laws that govern the development of clinically relevant neuron types in the cerebral cortex. Her work integrates basic investigation of these developmental processes in animal models with studies of the human cerebral cortex in vitro, within 3D brainorganoids of unprecedented complexity and reproducibility. Collectively, her my research program explores the interface between development and engineering of the brain, to gain fundamental understanding of both the principles that govern normal cortical development and of previously-inaccessible mechanisms of human neurodevelopmental disease.
She received her M.S. in biochemistry from the University of Trieste, Italy, and her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Portsmouth in the UK. She subsequently completed her postdoctoral training in neuroscience at Harvard Medical School. Prof. Arlotta was awarded the George Ledlie Prize, 2017, and is the recipient of numerous awards for for her work studying the embryonic brain in health and disease.