About

Research: I started my academic journey in Italy, by earning a Master's degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of Pavia and Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori.

Afterward, I pursued a PhD in Neuroscience at the MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research at King's College London (UK), under the mentorship of Chris Miller. For my postdoctoral training, I joined the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (UK) under the guidance of Simon Bullock. Within this time, I obtained a NC3Rs David Sainsbury Fellowship before starting my research group at the Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, King's College London, as Van Geest Fellow in Dementia and Neurodegeneration. I am currently a research group leader and a Lecturer in Cellular Neuroscience at King’s.

My work explores the complexity of neuronal biology, focusing on understanding how intracellular trafficking influences neuronal function, and its role in healthy aging and neurodegeneration.

The work of my research group combines in vivo studies in Drosophila melanogaster with cultured mammalian neurons, coupled to advanced microscopy approaches and tool development. At MIA, we also wish to interrogate the fly genome to find potential new determinants of organismal fitness. We hope our work will offer novel insights into avenues of intervention for age-related and neurodegenerative conditions by contributing significantly to our understanding of neuronal biology.

Along with my scientific work, I am a Bullying and Harassment Confidential Advisor at King’s, and I am passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and wellbeing in the workplace.

Relevant publications:

- Age-specific and compartment-dependent changes in mitochondrial homeostasis and cytoplasmic viscosity in mouse peripheral neurons

Sleigh JN, Mattedi F, Richter S, Annuario E, Ng K, Steinmark IE, Ivanova I, Darabán IL, Joshi PP, Rhymes ER, Awale S, Yahioglu G, Mitchell JC, Suhling K, Schiavo G, Vagnoni A. Aging Cell. 2024 Jun 17:e14250. doi: 10.1111/acel.14250.

- Optogenetic cleavage of the Miro GTPase reveals the direct consequences of real-time loss of function in Drosophila

Mattedi F, Lloyd-Morris E, Hirth F, Vagnoni A. PLoS Biology. 2023 Aug 17;21(8):e3002273. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002273.

- Kinesin light chain-1 serine-460 phosphorylation is altered in Alzheimer's disease and regulates axonal transport and processing of the amyloid precursor protein

Mórotz GM, Glennon EB, Greig J, Lau DHW, Bhembre N, Mattedi F, Muschalik N, Noble W, Vagnoni A*, Miller CCJ*. Acta Neuropathologica Communications. 2019 Dec 5;7(1):200. doi: 10.1186/s40478-019-0857-5.

- Temporal control of axonal transport: the extreme case of organismal ageing

Mattedi F, Vagnoni A. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. 2019 Aug 23;13:393. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2019.00393.

- A cAMP/PKA/Kinesin-1 Axis Promotes the Axonal Transport of Mitochondria in Ageing Drosophila neurons

Vagnoni A*, Bullock SL*. Current Biology. 2018 Apr 23;28(8):1265-1272.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.048.

- A simple method for imaging axonal transport in ageing neurons using the adult Drosophila wing

Vagnoni A*, Bullock SL*. Nature Protocols. 2016 Sep;11(9):1711-23. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2016.112.