Professor Simone Di Giovanni Consultant neurologist and chair of restorative neuroscience

Background

Professor Simone Di Giovanni is a Professor of Neuroscience at Imperial College where he holds a Chair in Restorative Neuroscience and where he leads a research group that investigates mechanisms and treatment for injuries and disorders that affect the peripheral nerves and the spinal cord and for pain conditions in the nervous system. Professor Di Giovanni holds a honorary post within the NHS as a consultant in Neurology. His research and clinical work have broad implications for conditions spanning from traumatic, vascular, inflammatory, degenerative and metabolic (such as diabetes) damage to the spinal cord, spinal roots and peripheral nerves and for pain syndromes in the nervous system.
Professor Di Giovanni is also involved in developing novel neurorehabilitation strategies.
Previously, since 2006, he worked at the University of Tuebingen, Germany as a Research Group Leader, where he was also a consultant clinician in Stroke and General Neurology.

Professor Di Giovanni did his post-doctoral training in Neuroscience studying gene expression regulation after spinal cord injury at Georgetown University, Washington DC, 2001-2004 where he became research Instructor (2004-2006). He studied Medicine at La Sapienza University and did his Neurology training at Catholic University, Rome, Italy.

Expertise

Interests include repair and regeneration in the nervous system: Disorders of the peripheral nervous system, neuropathies, spinal cord injuries, radiculopathies and pain, COVID19 related neurology

Research & publications

De Virgiliis F, Hutson TH, Palmisano I, Amachree S, Miao J, Zhou L, Todorova R, Thompson R, Danzi MC, Lemmon VP, Bixby JL, Wittig I, Shah AM, Di Giovanni S et al., 2020, Enriched conditioning expands the regenerative ability of sensory neurons after spinal cord injury via neuronal intrinsic redox signaling, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 11, ISSN: 2041-1723

De Virgiliis F, Di Giovanni S, 2020, Lung innervation in the eye of a cytokine storm: neuroimmune interactions and COVID-19, NATURE REVIEWS NEUROLOGY, Vol: 16, Pages: 645-652, ISSN: 1759-4758

Kong G, Zhou L, Serger E, Palmisano I, De Virgiliis F, Hutson TH, Mclachlan E, Freiwald A, La Montanara P, Shkura K, Puttagunta R, Di Giovanni S et al., 2020, AMPK controls the axonal regenerative ability of dorsal root ganglia sensory neurons after spinal cord injury., Nature Metabolism, Vol: 2, Pages: 918-933, ISSN: 2522-5812

La Montanara P, Hervera A, Baltussen L, Hutson TH, Palmisano I, De Virgiliis F, Gao Y, Bartus K, Majid Q, Gorgoraptis N, Wong K, Downs J, Pizzorusso T, Ultanir S, Leonard H, Yu H, Millar DS, Nagy I, Mazarakis N, Di Giovanni S et al., 2020, Cyclin-dependent-like kinase 5 is required for pain signaling in human sensory neurons and mouse models, Science Translational Medicine, Vol: 12, ISSN: 1946-6234

Hutson TH, Di Giovanni S, 2019, The translational landscape in spinal cord injury: focus on neuroplasticity and regeneration, Nature Reviews Neurology, Vol: 15, Pages: 732-745, ISSN: 1759-4758

Palmisano I, Danzi MC, Hutson TH, Zhou L, McLachlan E, Serger E, Shkura K, Srivastava PK, Hervera A, Neill NO, Liu T, Dhrif H, Wang Z, Kubat M, Wuchty S, Merkenschlager M, Levi L, Elliott E, Bixby JL, Lemmon VP, Di Giovanni S et al., 2019, Epigenomic signatures underpin the axonal regenerative ability of dorsal root ganglia sensory neurons, Nature Neuroscience, Vol: 22, Pages: 1913-1924, ISSN: 1097-6256

Hervera A, Zhou L, Palmisano I, McLachlan E, Kong G, Hutson TH, Danzi MC, Lemmon VP, Bixby JL, Matamoros-Angles A, Forsberg K, De Virgiliis F, Matheos DP, Kwapis J, Wood MA, Puttagunta R, Del Río JA, Di Giovanni S et al., 2019, PP4-dependent HDAC3 dephosphorylation discriminates between axonal regeneration and regenerative failure, EMBO Journal, Vol: 38, ISSN: 0261-4189

Hutson TH, Kathe C, Palmisano I, Bartholdi K, Hervera A, De Virgiliis F, Mclachlan E, Zhou L, Kong G, Barraud Q, Danzi MC, Medrano-Fernandez A, Lopez-Atalaya JP, Boutillier AL, Sinha SH, Singh AK, Chaturbedy P, Moon LDF, Kundu TK, Bixby JL, Lemmon VP, Barco A, Courtine G, Di Giovanni S et al., 2019, Cbp-dependent histone acetylation mediates axon regeneration induced by environmental enrichment in rodent spinal cord injury models, Science Translational Medicine, Vol: 11, ISSN: 1946-6234
Palmisano I, Di Giovanni S, 2018, Advances and Limitations of Current Epigenetic Studies Investigating Mammalian Axonal Regeneration, NEUROTHERAPEUTICS, Vol: 15, Pages: 529-540, ISSN: 1933-7213

Hervera A, De Virgiliis F, Palmisano I, Zhou L, Tantardini E, Kong G, Hutson T, Danzi MC, Perry RB-T, Santos CXC, Kapustin AN, Fleck RA, Antonio Del Rio J, Carroll T, Lemmon V, Bixby JL, Shah AM, Fainzilber M, Di Giovanni S et al., 2018, Reactive oxygen species regulate axonal regeneration through the release of exosomal NADPH oxidase 2 complexes into injured axons, NATURE CELL BIOLOGY, Vol: 20, Pages: 307-+, ISSN: 1465-7392

Joshi Y, Soria MG, Quadrato G, Inak G, Zhou L, Hervera A, Rathore KI, Elnaggar M, Magali C, Marine JC, Puttagunta R, Di Giovanni Set al., 2015, The MDM4/MDM2-p53-IGF1 axis controls axonal regeneration, sprouting and functional recovery after CNS injury, Brain, Vol: 138, Pages: 1843-1862, ISSN: 0006-8950

Private practice

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