Dr. Francesca Cirulli
Italy
Dr. Cirulli coordinates the group on Innovative Interventions for Mental Health and Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI). As the contact person for the ISS at the Ministry of Health, she oversees activities related to AAI and mental health. She is actively involved in coordinating national research projects, organizing training courses, and promoting educational programs aimed at disseminating and applying the principles outlined in the National Guidelines.
Professional experience
Dr. Cirulli is currently a Research Director at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità’s Reference Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, where she has worked since 1999, previously serving as a Senior Researcher. Leading a research team in Behavioral Neuroscience, her work focuses on the neurobiology of stress, employing a multidisciplinary approach to investigate how lifestyle, diet, and social factors influence stress vulnerability and resilience. Her team explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these processes, examining epigenetic markers, neuroimmune regulation, and microbiota signatures in preclinical and clinical studies. Previously, Dr. Cirulli worked as a Senior Technician in the Behavioral Pathophysiology Lab and as a Research Assistant at Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Education
Dr. Cirulli holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Science in Neuroscience from Stanford University, CA, USA. She also earned a Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences from Università Sapienza, Rome, Italy, and has received the National Scientific Qualification to Full Professor in Psychology and Psychobiology.
Italy
- Place of Affiliation
Neurobiology of Stress
- Psychological stress
- Emotion and Cognition
Rehabilitation
- Animal-assisted intervention and sport
- Musillo C. Berry A. and Cirulli F. (2022) Prenatal psychological or metabolic stress increases the risk for psychiatric disorders: the "funnel effect" model. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 136:104624.
- Berry A, Mazzelli M, Musillo C, Riva MA, Cattaneo A, Cirulli F. (2021) High-fat diet during adulthood interacts with prenatal stress, affecting both brain inflammatory and neuroendocrine markers in male rats. Eur J Neuroscience Mar 12. doi: 10.1111/ejn.15181. Epub ahead of print.
- Berry A. Bellisario V. Panetta P. Raggi C. Magnifico M.C. Arese, M and Cirulli F. (2018) Administration of the antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine in pregnant mice has long-term positive effects on metabolic and behavioural endpoints of male and female offspring prenatally exposed to a high-fat diet. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 12:1-13.
- Alboni S. van Dijk R.M. Poggini S. Milior G. Perrotta M. Drenth T. Brunello N. Wolfer D. Limatola C. Amrein I. Cirulli F. Maggi L. and Branchi I. (2017) Fluoxetine effects on molecular, cellular and behavioral endophenotypes of depression are driven by the living environment. Molecular Psychiatry 22: 552-561.
- Luoni A. Massart R. Nieratschker V. Nemoda Z. Gilles M. Witt S.H. Cattaneo A. Suderman M. Berry A. Cirulli F. Pariante C.M. Gass P. Rietschel M. Deuschle M. Szyf M. and Riva M.A. (2016) Ankyrin-3 as a Molecular Marker of Early Life Stress and Vulnerability to Psychiatric Disorders. Translational Psychiatry 6:e943.
- Bellisario V. Panetta P. Balsevich G. Baumann V. Noble J. Raggi C. Nathan O. Berry A. Seckl J. Schmidt M. Holmes M. and Cirulli F. (2015) Maternal high-fat diet acts as a stressor increasing maternal glucocorticoids' signaling to the fetus and disrupting maternal behavior and brain activation in C57BL/6J mice. Psychoneuroendocrinology 60:138-150.
- Berry A. Bellisario V. Capoccia S. Tirassa P. Calza A. Alleva E. and Cirulli F. (2012). Social deprivation stress is a triggering factor for the emergence of anxiety and depression-like behaviours and leads to reduced brain BDNF levels in C57BL/6J mice. Psychoneuroendocrinology 37:762-72.
- Berry A. Amrein I. Nötzli S. Lazic S.E. Bellisario V. Giorgio M. Pelicci P.G. Alleva E. Lipp H.P. Cirulli F. (2012) Sustained hippocampal neurogenesis in females is amplified in p66Shc-/- mice: An animal model of healthy aging. Hippocampus 22:2249-59.
- Cirulli F. Reif A. Herterich S. Lesch K.P. Berry A. Francia N. Aloe L. Barr, C.S. Suomi S.J. and Alleva E. (2011) A novel BDNF polymorphism affects plasma protein levels in interaction with early adversity in rhesus macaques. Psychoneuroendocrinology 36:372-9.
- Roceri M. Cirulli F. Pessina C. Peretto P. Racagni G. and Riva M.A. (2004) Postnatal repeated maternal deprivation produces age dependent changes of BDNF expression in selected rat brain regions. Biological Psychiatry 55: 708-714.
