Roles
Vice Chair of Research
Professor of Ophthalmology
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Biography
Dr. Porciatti is an internationally recognized scientist with over 190 peer-reviewed articles in the field of visual neuroscience. He started his career in Italy as a radiochemist in a nuclear research facility and later graduated in biological sciences at the University of Pisa, Italy. As voluntary assistant professor at the University of Pisa, he learned about electrophysiological techniques which he later applied to experimental and clinical models of healthy and diseased visual system as senior scientist at the Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy, with a joint appointment at Eye Clinic the Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
In 2001 Dr. Porciatti moved to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (BPEI) of Miami to investigate retinal ganglion cell plasticity and early detection/restoration of visual function in clinical and experimental models of optic nerve degeneration such as glaucoma and optic neuropathies. He has received extensive extramural support including two NIH-NEI R01, one NIH-NEI R03, and 2 NIH-NEI R43 awards. He is currently PI of an NIH-NEI R24 grant on gene-therapy of mitochondrial disease and a NIH-NEI P30 core grant for vision research.
Dr. Porciatti holds the James L. Knight Professorship of Ophthalmology and is Vice Chair of Research of BPEI. He also has secondary appointments at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and at the Neuroscience Program of the University of Miami. He is member of several professional societies and serves on review panels of NIH, other funding agencies, and scientific journals. -
Education & Training
Education
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Honors & Awards
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Teaching Interests
Teaching visual neuroscience and electrophysiology has been a permanent component of Dr. Porciatti's activity. He taught for many years at the Neuroscience Program of the University of Pisa, Italy, at the Ophthalmology residency program of the University of Milan –San Raffaele, and at the Ophthalmology residency program of the Catholic University of Rome. Current teaching activities at the University of Miami include the Neuroscience Program (NEU762), the Master in Vision Science and Investigative Ophthalmology (OPH-635) and lecture on Visual Electrophysiology at the 1st year medical students. -
Research Interests
Death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) is the cause of blindness in glaucoma and of optic nerve diseases. The central idea of Dr. Porciatti’s research is that RGCs undergo a stage of reversible dysfunction before dying. If neuronal dysfunction is detected early, then visual loss can be timely prevented, and neural function restored. Dr. Porciatti’s laboratory uses non-invasive electrophysiologic techniques in human and mouse models to investigate how RGCs become dysfunctional, how and when they become susceptible to stress, and how their function may be improved. In combination with imaging, histologic, molecular and genetic approaches, a comprehensive evaluation of RGC function provides critical information on the survival mechanisms of injured RGCs, predicts their lifespan with or without therapeutic intervention, and the time window to rescue dysfunctional RGCs. As visual function assessment is a key outcome measure for neuroprotective/neuroregeneration studies, Dr. Porciatti has a large network of collaborations. -
Publications
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