Andrea Lelli, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Department of Neuroscience
Education
B.S. University of Pavia, Italy, 1999
Ph.D. University of Pavia, Italy, 2003
Post-doc. Venetian Institute of Molecular Medcine, Padova, 2003-2006
I've been doing research on hair cells since 1997, when I joined Ivo Prigioni's lab in Pavia, Italy for my thesis. There, I was introduced to electrophysiology and to the wonderful world of hair cells! After my Ph.D. I moved to Trieste and then to Padova, collaborating with Fabio Mammano and, later, with Ernesto Carafoli at the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine. In this period I studied hair cells with different techniques, e.g. Ca2+ imaging on epifluorescent and confocal microscopes and flash photolysis of caged compounds. In 2003 we started collaborating with Jeff Holt and I had the chance to visit his lab at UVa, where I was introduced to the secrets of mechano-transduction in vestibular hair cells, stimulating the hair-bundle of single cells to record their electrical responses. It's just making hair cells do their job! It was so interesting that, when I was offered a position in Holt lab two years later, I decided to join the group (also because American salaries are definitely higher than Italian!!!!). My project here is to identify which molecules make mechanotransduction possible in hair cells. To do that, I use different genetic approaches, mice carrying mutations in proteins that are suitable candidates to participate in transduction, or trying to switch off the production of these molecules by the use of siRNAs and viral vectors. There are still many secrets to be revealed in the world of the hair cell and I hope I can shed some light on some of them!
Contact Information
Email: al5xb@virginia.edu
Office: (434)243-9499
Lab: (434)243-9499
Fax: (434)982-4380
Mailing Address
University of Virginia
Department of Neuroscience
Box 801392
Charlottesville, VA 22908
Delivery Address
University of Virginia
409 Lane Road
MR-4 Building, Room 5116
Holt / Géléoc Lab Home