Leonardo D'Aiuto, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Areas of Expertise

  • Psychosis
  • Basic & Translational Neuroscience
Leonardo D'Aiuto, PhD
Expertise & Interests Selected Publications Education & Credentials Related News

Expertise & Interests

Research Interests

Modeling infections of CNS with neurotropic virus; Developing cortical and hippocampal brain organoid; Analysis of the interplay between nuclear bodies

Education Interests

Teaching stem cell-based technologies; Molecular genetics training; Mentorship of early-career researchers

Selected Publications

  1. Zheng W, Klammer AM, Naciri JN, Yeung J, Demers MJ, Milosevic J, Kinchington PR, Bloom DB, Nimgaonkar VL, Hyde VR, Zhou C, Fernandez JR, Chatterjee K, Ramakrishna P, Lin A, Fisher GW, Celiker OT, Caldwell J, Bender O, Sauer PJ, Lugo-Martinez J, Bar DZ, D'Aiuto L, Shemesh OA. Anti-herpetic tau preserves neurons via the cGAS-STING-TBK1 pathway in Alzheimer's disease. Cell Rep. 2025 Jan 28;44(1):115109. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115109. Epub 2025 Jan 2. PMID: 39753133.
  2. D'Aiuto L, Caldwell JK, Edwards TG, Zhou C, McDonald ML, Di Maio R, Joel WA, Hyde VR, Wallace CT, Watkins SC, Wesesky MA, Shemesh OA, Nimgaonkar VL, Bloom DC. Phosphorylated-tau associates with HSV-1 chromatin and correlates with nuclear speckles decondensation in low-density host chromatin regions. Neurobiol Dis. 2025 Mar;206:106804. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2025.106804. Epub 2025 Jan 14.PMID: 39818277; PMCID: PMC12001802.
  3. Versace A, Hitchens TK, Wallace CT, Watkins SC, D'Aiuto L. 11.7T Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and tractography to probe human brain organoid microstructure. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2024 Jun 7;4(5):100344. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100344. PMID: 39099731; PMCID: PMC11295450.
  4. Paranjape AN, D'Aiuto L, Zheng W, Chen X, Villanueva FS. A multicellular brain spheroid model for studying the mechanisms and bioeffects of ultrasound-enhanced drug penetration beyond the blood?brain barrier. Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 22;14(1):1909. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-50203-3. PMID: 38253669; PMCID:PMC10803331.
  5. McNulty J, Babu-Dokuburra C, Scattolon J, Zepeda-Velazquez C, Wesesky MA, Caldwell JK, Zheng W, Milosevic J, Kinchington PR, Bloom DC, Nimgaonkar VL, D'Aiuto L. Truncated ring-A amaryllidaceae alkaloid modulates the host cell integrated stress response, exhibiting antiviral activity to HSV-1 and SARSCoV-2. Sci Rep. 2023 Jan 30;13(1):1639. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-28691-0.PMID: 36717567; PMCID: PMC9885069.

Education & Credentials

Education & Training

Education
PhD, Molecular Genetics and Evolution, University of Bari, Italy
Postdoctoral
Epigenetics and Stem Cell Biology, University of Pittsburgh
Postdoctoral
Human Genetics, University of Edinburgh

Professional Affiliations

  • Member, International Herpesvirus Workshop
  • Member, American Society of Virology

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