Ateneo

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5728-9261

Elisabetta Mantuano is a Professor in the Department of Life Sciences, Health, and Health Professions at Link Campus University in Rome. She has held a faculty position in the Department of Pathology at the University of California San Diego since 2007. In 2024, she was appointed as the Rector’s Research Delegate at Link Campus University. Licensed as a Pharmacist with a Residency in Clinical Pharmacology and a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Pisa, Prof. Mantuano brings a variety of expertise in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, cell and molecular biology. For over 15 years, she has focused on identifying and characterizing novel pathways by which proteases and their cell-surface receptors regulate cell physiology. Her research portfolio is diverse, covering signaling pathways in neurodegenerative diseases, innate immunity, cancer angiogenesis, and inflammatory responses.

She has assumed leadership roles in various projects, including peptide drug discovery, cell signaling pathways in inflammation and innate immunity, molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neuroinflammation and chronic pain in spinal cord injury, and the function of protease receptors in neurodegenerative diseases. Her professional journey includes serving as a research supervisor in preclinical in vivo pharmacology studies at the Catholic University in Rome from 2005 to 2007. She did her post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of California San Diego, where she made significant discoveries regarding injury-activated receptors in Schwann cells (SCs). Through molecular, cellular, and animal model studies, Prof. Mantuano identified the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP1) as a pivotal regulator of changes occurring in SCs post- nerve injury. Her groundbreaking research on LRP1 has pioneered a new research field, with many laboratories now building on her findings. Her work has expanded to comprehend neuro-inflammation, studying innate immunity responses in macrophages and microglia.

This research has led her to design and discover innovative anti-inflammatory therapeutics, resulting in the retention of two international patents in this field. She has published extensively in prestigious international scientific journals, including the Journal of Neuroscience, Science Signaling, PNAS, Blood, Journal of Cell Science, and Journal of Clinical Investigation. She serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of leading scientific journals, she successfully collaborates with international researchers from renowned academic institutions and has been invited often to speak at international conferences, further reinforcing her reputation as a leading authority in her field. Her extensive experience has equipped her with the expertise, leadership, and skills necessary to successfully lead diverse research programs, making significant contributions to scientific advancement.

Curriculum Vitae