Enza Maria Valente

Enza Maria Valente

Enza Maria received her MD and residency in Neurology from the Catholic University in Rome and her Ph.D. from the University College of London. Upon returning to Italy, she established as an independent researcher at the Mendel Institute in Rome. She was appointed Associate Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Messina and then Salerno, and finally moved to Pavia in 2017, where she took the positions of Full Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Pavia and Head of the Neurogenetics Research Center and Genetic Diagnostic Lab at the IRCCS Mondino Foundation.

One of her main research interest is the genetics of Parkinson Disease (PD) and movement disorders. In this field, she has largely contributed to gain knowledge on PINK1 with studies on its mutational spectrum and prevalenc, its phenotypic associations and its multiple molecular functions within neuronal cells. She has also been researching other PD genes, contributing to define the mutational and clinical spectrum of LRRK2, PARK2, SNCA and GBA in the Italian population. A second, relevant line of research focuses on the genetic basis of brain malformations, mainly of the cerebellum. Her research is funded nationally and internationally, including an ERC Starting Grant.

She is author of many scientific articles and reviews on international journals, and has been invited speaker at international congresses on genetics and movement disorders. She has been member of the Scientific Advisory Board of a PEARL research programme on PD genetics in Luxembourg, and is currently a member of the Scientific Committee and of the Monogenic Network of the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s Global Parkinson’s Genetic Program (ASAP GP2). She has taken part in international projects on PD genetics, such as the FP7-funded MEFOPA study and the MJFF Global Genetics Consortium.