Dr. Giacomo Masserdotti

Giacomo Masserdotti is intruigued by the concepts of cell identity and plasticity. His research investigates the molecular mechanisms driving the direct reprogramming of differentiated mouse and human cells into functional neurons, aiming at a comprehensive understanding of the conversion process with the final aim of generating new fully function neurons. Leveraging state-of-the-art technologies — including single-cell multiomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and high-content imaging — Giacomo’s lab aims to understand the extent to which the identity of differentiated cells can be manipulated to generate new neurons that are functionally and molecularly similar to those present in the adult healthy brain.

Giacomo Masserdotti received his PhD in molecular and cellular biology at the University San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. He joined Götz’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2009 and started to work in the new field of direct neuronal reprogramming. Since then, he has contributed to elucidating the transcriptional mechanisms triggered the forced expression of specific transcription factors, identifying hurdles that prevent successful conversion.

Since 2024, Giacomo is group leader at the Institute of Stem Cell Research (ISF) and is expanding his interest to organelle organization, heterogeneity and their changes during the conversion of differentiated cells into functional neurons.